When NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. speaks, “drivers listen,” and NASCAR officials “know that Earnhardt has clout among his peers and that his voice now carries more weight,” according to Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com. As a member of NASCAR's newly formed drivers' council, Earnhardt “has had the ears of the fans, drivers and NASCAR in the past four weeks.” Earnhardt said, “All the drivers have very strong opinions, and we all feel like we have a handful of answers of things that we could change to make this sport better. I don't know that my ideas are better than anyone else's. We all sort of get together and talk it over." Pockrass noted that being “elected as an inaugural member of the council shows that Earnhardt could fill the role that his father once played in the garage as the person who can walk into the NASCAR hauler and truly have the ear -- and respect -- of NASCAR brass.” It is a role that driver Jeff Gordon “somewhat assumed” in the ‘00s. Earnhardt: “There's a lot of guys with a lot of amazing ideas that should be in that room. But NASCAR thought it would be good to sort of keep it down to a small number so the conversations are reasonable." He added of the council, “It won't really bear fruit right off the bat. It will take a few meetings” (ESPN.com, 6/22).
