Who’s Hot And Who’s Not Heading Into Sprint Unlimited

Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

HOT – Dale Earnhardt Jr.

For the first time in a long time Dale Earnhardt Jr. will come into a NASCAR season with hype that is deserved.

For so many years NASCAR seasons would begin and fans of Earnhardt Jr. would put him on this pedestal and it would be nothing more than silly. After all, how can you tout a driver who didn’t win a race the previous year or at one point hadn’t won in like 60 starts? Those days are over though (at least for this year) as Earnhardt Jr. is coming off one of the best seasons in his career.

2014 brought with it four victories including a win in the Daytona 500. 2014 also brought with it true championship aspirations despite Earnhardt Jr. fading a bit in the chase. Steve Letarte isn’t with the team anymore but anymore but Greg Ives is more than capable of filling that void. Earnhardt Jr. should have himself another strong season and if he comes on strong at the end, who knows where he might end up.