Dale Jr. choking under pressure

It was as uneasy as 1-2-3. 1. One big, controversial wreck. 2. Two inexplicable pit-road blunders. 3. Three, at the very least, drivers called him out. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Daytona 500 began with promise. He ran up front early and passed Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 53. But on his subsequent pit he missed his stall. Track position was gone. Later in the race when he came to pit, his tire was on the line, which is a no-no in NASCAR. Changes were made to the car anyway, resulting in a one-lap penalty. "We had a pit stop where I was told the right-front tire was only an inch over the line," Earnhardt said. "I was held a lap for that and I don't feel like that was a fair trade. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate that rule." And it was just a few laps later when things went from bad to worse. A collision between he and Brian Vickers triggered a multi-car crash that took out several lead cars. Both Earnhardt and Vickers were running a lap down at the time. For NASCAR's most popular driver in NASCAR's most popular race, it was not a good day. Was Junior at fault for the wreck? But an even bigger question has emerged: Is the pressure of driving for Hendrick Motorsports, where there are no excuses, finally getting to Dale Jr.? Even he admits pressure led to his first pit-road mistake. "I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to get up in there and try to lead a lap and all that and I just wasn't thinking good," he said. nascar.com