Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had more interactions and views on his social media posts "than all other NASCAR drivers combined so far this year," according to data from social media firm Hookit cited by Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com. His social media value from Feb. 23-March 1 (Daytona 500 was Feb. 26) was 86.4% of the "earned value of all drivers." Earnhardt has "gained 396,382 new followers this year (including 238,227 on Twitter) through April 30, and overall he has had 34.7 million interactions and views -- more than 30 million more than the next top driver (Jimmie Johnson)." Following Earnhardt and Johnson on Hookit's interactions/views list were Danica Patrick, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott. Only Logano and Elliott "are under age 30." Hookit determined Earnhardt's '17 earned social media value for sponsors at $21.8M -- $1.8M through Twitter, $4.6M through Instagram and $15.4M through Facebook. Earnhardt believes there will be "drivers to take his place" upon his retirement. Plus, he is "not going away and will continue to bring value to sponsors." Earnhardt: "These guys that are coming in, they're really sharp and smart about how to utilize social media, how to engage with fans. You see the stuff that (Ryan) Blaney and Bubba (Wallace) do, and they're not afraid to really show their personalities" (ESPN.com, 5/10).
