user: Q: Leader of the pack: Dale Jr. voted first quarter Driver of the Year

Updated MAY 01, 2014 11:24a ET

Off to one of the best starts of his career, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been selected as the recipient of the first quarter Driver of the Year Award 2014.

Earnhardt, who won his second Daytona 500 in February, was selected for the honor on the basis of a vote by a 17-member panel of American motorsports broadcasters and journalists.

"I'm pretty blown away that we've won the First Quarter 2014 Driver of the Year Award," said Earnhardt. "It's an honor and really humbling to be chosen. The members that vote on this award are a credible group, and it's an award that's meant a lot to different drivers. It's one that I'm proud to have been voted for."

Earnhardt had seven first-place DOTY votes and a total of 88 points in the voting, certainly an appropriate number, given the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet he drives.

Kevin Harvick, who drives the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, and Team Penske IndyCar driver Will Power tied for second place with 80 points. Harvick had five first-place votes and Australia's Power had three. Chase Elliott scored 37 points, including one first-place vote, to finish fourth. Twenty drivers scored points in the first-quarter competition.

During the first quarter, which ended with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Earnhardt had his Daytona 500 victory, three second-place finishes and one third-place finish.

The late Dale Earnhardt Sr. won the annual Driver of the Year Award in 1987 and '94. Earnhardt Jr. is trying to become the third son to win after his father did. Al Unser Sr. (1970) and Al Unser Jr. (1990), and Mario Andretti (1967, 1978, and 1984) and Michael Andretti (1991) are the other father-son winners.

In the quarterly voting, points are awarded by the panel of journalists and broadcasters on a declining 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis. Earnhardt will receive a trophy and a Tissot wristwatch to be presented at a race weekend to be determined.
What are the most important parts of this text?

A: NASCAR's most popular driver, who won his second Daytona 500 in February, was selected for the honor on the basis of a vote by a 17-member panel of American motorsports broadcasters and journalists.


Q: He's Got The Math, So Where's Mitt's Momentum?

With Romney's third place finish in Mississippi and Alabama Tuesday, one thing is certain: The Republican presidential primaries may remain Mitt Romney's to win, but that has more to do with arithmetic and delegates than it does with voters.

Given his win in Hawaii last night, the former governor only trailed last night's big winner Rick Santorum by 4 delegates (35 to 31) at the end of the night.

With the delegate count now 495 for Romney and 252 for Santorum, the former Massachusetts governor is likely to be at -- or just shy of -- the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination. In such a situation, he would be almost certain to pick up the 114 unpledged delegates as well as the 86 delegates in states that have already voted that have yet to be allocated.

But that being said, it is hard to be elected president when you keep losing states.

Put simply, there is no real momentum for Mitt Romney in terms of the voters.

Despite out-spending Santorum and Gingrich by better than 3 to 1 in both states between Super PAC and campaign expenditures, the former Massachusetts governor simply proved unable to rally more than his core constituency of suburban and urban, mostly upscale Republicans.

What last night’s third place finishes underscores is that while the delegate math is looking increasingly good, Romney still has not been able to win enough Evangelical, Tea Party and very conservative voters to close the deal.

His frontrunner status has more to do with the fact that he is the best organized, best-funded candidate than it does with popular support. And the sheer power of his money, negative ads and his organizational muscle are what makes him the favorite to win.

Douglas E. Schoen is a political strategist, Fox News contributor, and author of several books including the forthcoming "Hopelessly Divided: The New Crisis in American Politics and What It Means for 2012 and Beyond" (Rowman and Littlefield). Follow Doug on Twitter @DouglasESchoen.
What are the most important parts of this text?

A:

assistant: Despite the lead Mitt Romney has over Rick Santorum, there is no real momentum for ROmney in terms of the voters.