Another blow for Junior

NASCAR Sprint Cup has a dilemma.And the dilemma is a green and white Chevrolet with the No. 88 on both doors and the roof.The driver's name is Dale Earnhardt Jr. and he has a bigger fan base than the next nine drivers behind you combined. If there is a royal family of racing, Earnhardt certainly is the crown prince.He commands the largest salary in the NASCAR garage, and sponsors -- even in these tough economic times -- line up to have their names on the quarter panels of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.Heck, not even David Copperfield could change a sea of red into a sea of green at a NASCAR event faster than Earnhardt did when he changed sponsors from Budweiser to Mountain Dew last season.But he sits here this week waiting to race at his favourite track -- Talladega Superspeedway -- way back in 19th place in the championship, 399 points behind his teammate Jeff Gordon.And yesterday NASCAR announced that it has placed Earnhardt and Casey Mears on probation for the next six races as a result of their on-track incident last Saturday at the conclusion of the race at Phoenix International Raceway.Earnhardt and Mears, officials ruled, violated Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing; hitting another competitor's car after the race had concluded) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book.This comes at a time when "Little E" needs to start putting some big time numbers on the board. Earnhardt has won NASCAR's most popular driver award for the past five consecutive years, but has won only one race (Michigan 2008) in the past three seasons.There is a theory that the No. 88 car can do no wrong because of the heritage and popularity Earnhardt carries with him. In fact, there are more than a few conspiracy nuts who swear NASCAR does everything within its power to help the No. 88 win.But really, in what professional sport would a 19th place competitor be given that kind of star treatment?Earnhardt, if he wants to keep being on the receiving end of the love and cash that goes with his name, will have to take action to at least mollify his legion of fans who, frankly, just might be getting restless. There are four drivers in the Hendrick garage. Three of them have won races this season, but the No. 88 team can't even get a sniff.It's time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to do some winning on his own, or do what Bill Elliott did when he stopped winning in the Cup series, and withdraw his name from the annual most popular driver award.