If it wasn't for bad luck, Junior wouldn't have no luck at all

If it's possible to feel sorry for the insanely rich idol of millions, I feel just the tiniest bit sorry for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Yes, really.

You know the deal by now -- well over a year since he's won, crew chief switch in the middle of the year, sagging under the weight of expectations and that last name. Maybe he's a talented driver, maybe he's not (I lean toward the former), but what's indisputable is that he's suffered through an unmitigated disaster of a season. There's been no bigger disappointment this year than Junior, and only Carl Edwards even comes close.

Thing is, I wonder how much of this is of his own making. The guy is the anti-Jimmie Johnson; he absolutely cannot catch a good break to save his life. While he had some extremely weak runs at the beginning of the year, he's seemed stronger in recent weeks -- but every time, every single time, something goes horribly wrong for him.

Take this past weekend at Texas. Junior was running in the top 5 all afternoon. Seriously, look at his chart -- the brief, deep dips are his pits; he was having a strong day right until the very end. And then came that final pit stop, where he was just going for a splash of fuel ... and he couldn't get his car restarted. Unbelievable. In other races, Junior has been taken out by driver after driver through no fault of his own. But in the end, the result is the same -- a low-20s finish, week after week.

Certainly, you make your own luck; Johnson is testament to that. But where Johnson could fall into a landfill and find an uncashed lottery ticket, Junior could fall into a field of dandelions and get a petal cut on his eye. If there's anything to karma, Junior has banked up some serious credit on 2010.