News crossed the desk this past week that Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Whisky River club opened to rave reviews near Charlotte. No shock there. Junior’s ability to have a good time and entertain are already legendary.

(Though I received an invitation, I couldn’t convince the bosses of the advantages of covering this event.)

Anyway, what’s interesting is that Junior’s already catching some heat for the venture, not because it’s a bar he’s invested in — that would be extremely hypocritical — but because some people think the business will take away from his commitment to drive race cars.

Please, people, get a clue. No one had more irons in the business fire than Dale Earnhardt Sr., and he never caught an ounce of criticism for it. He was just smart, a man who was well ahead of his time when it came to marketing himself. While the old man did it mainly through souvenir sales, Junior is taking a more modern route to off-the-track riches, and he bristles at the thought that the club could take away from his driving.

“There’s a stigma about how drivers can’t do anything,” Earnhardt said in a NASCAR.com interview. “They have to focus on this, that and the other. Any time you do anything or want to do anything or talk about anything, people want to question your focus or whatever.

“I think people underestimate my drive and determination,” Earnhardt said. “They always have. It’s followed me around just like the pressure has, just like the name has. It’s always there. It’s OK. I’ve got to do things that might work out for me in my life.”

From the reviews I’ve read, the place is not what you would expect. It isn’t splattered with NASCAR stuff. It’s a real, old-fashioned country bar, complete with mechanical bull, a stage for live Southern rock bands and ample room for dancing and conversation.

Like his dad, Junior’s doing it his way, like it or not.