Changing Jobs

By Andrea Beaver

Let me ask you all a question. If you were unhappy with your job what would you do? We've all been there at least once in our lives. The last time I was unhappy in a job I started looking for a new one, interviewed and ultimately found something new that made me happier. It happens every day all over the world.

So what's the big deal about Dale Earnhardt Jr. finding a new team to race for in 2008? All kinds of people kept saying that he didn't have the "tools" to win a championship. Even Dale Jr. said he didn't have the equipment to win races and championships. So what did he do?

He went looking for a new team to race for, interviewed and found a new place to race where he felt he would not only have the tools to win races and championships but where he would be happy.

So why are so many people so divided about Dale Jr. doing something that millions of us do every couple of years on an average?

There are the obvious reasons. He's the four-time most popular driver in NASCAR. He is driving (at least until the end of the '07 season) for the team his father founded and that ultimately bares his name as well.

Let's face it; some hard core die hard fans feel it's a betrayal for Jr. to leave his father's team. If your name is on it you should race for the team for your entire life. It's sacrilege to race for any other team. And to go to the "enemy" and race for Hendrick Motorsports is beyond comprehension.

Change. There are many of us who hate to make or see change. All is right with the world for many with Dale Jr. in the Number 8 DEI red Budweiser car. Anything else is just not acceptable.

But let me ask you a question. Would you stay at a job where you saw no chance for advancement or success? I know some people are happy where they are. But many of us would go on to find something that at very least would make us happy. That is exactly what Dale Earnhardt Jr. has done.

Junior didn't feel like he had the equipment or opportunity to win more races and that elusive first championship at DEI. He wasn't completely happy. So he talked to teams, essentially interviewed, and found a new team to race for in 2008. A team that he apparently felt that he could not only win races with but championships with. A job that would make him happy. How could anyone deny anyone, even Dale Earnhardt Jr., the chance to be happy with his job?