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Dale Earnhardt Jr. (bottom) battles teammate Michael Waltrip at the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 in 2004.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974 in Kannapolis, North Carolina) is the son of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. He currently drives the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Earnhardt Jr. began his professional driving career at the age of 17, competing in the Street Stock division at Concord ( N.C.) Motorsport Park. His first race car was a 1978 Monte Carlo that he co-owned with older brother Kerry. Within two seasons, the young Earnhardt had honed his driving abilities to the point of joining the Late Model Stock Car division. There, he developed an in-depth knowledge of chassis setup and car preparation, while racing against Kerry and their sister Kelley. With his father's guidance and his own experience on the short tracks throughout the Carolinas, he was ready to take a bold step forward.
Before his Winston Cup rookie season in 2000, many thought Earnhardt Jr. was the front-runner for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award. It didn't pan out that way, as frequent challenger Matt Kenseth outran Junior in the Daytona 500, and never let up in his run to the title. Kenseth ultimately scored a 42-point victory in the rookie race.
Earnhardt's close relationship with his cousin, car chief Tony Eury Jr., crew chief Tony Eury and his crew, was both a blessing and a curse. The continuation of his Busch SeriesThe Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCAR's second division, and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's top level, the Nextel Cup. The series emerged from NASCAR's old Sport success into Winston Cup created an atmosphere that was too distracting and disruptive for the operation's success to continue.
Junior did have a part in recreating one Winston Cup milestone in 2000 when he competed with his father and brother Kerry in the Pepsi 400The Pepsi 400 is the current name for the 400 mile (approx. 640 km) NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held on the July 4th weekend at Daytona International Speedway. This 160-lap event was developed to make a second major Cup-level racing event for Daytona at Michigan International SpeedwayMichigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3. 16 km) tri-oval superspeedway located off U. Highway 12 on more than 1,200 acres (5 kmē) near Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. It is used for NASCAR and high-level open wh. That occasion was only the second time that a father had raced against two sons. Lee , RichardRichard Petty (born July 2, 1937) is a renowned former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and is now a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series owner. He won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship 7 times; Dale Earnhardt was the only other driver to accomplish this feat. and Maurice Petty had previously accomplished the feat.
Dale Jr.'s driving style is very much like his father's ("The Intimidator").
In 2001 Earnhardt Jr. came into the season assuming that the biggest obstacle he would face would be a sophomore slump, instead the year proved to be one of the most tumultuous and memorable seasons the young driver has experienced.
The first major event of the season occurred in the final corner of the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500--Junior's father crashed. As Junior finished second, his father died on the infield. Just as his father would have done, Junior raced at Rockingham the following weekend, but crashed on the first lap and finished in 43rd-place. He didn't stay down for long, though. Junior scored three emotional victories and came back to finish eighth in points.
The first win came when the series returned to Daytona, the same track where Junior's father had died a few months earlier, for the Pepsi 400The Pepsi 400 is the current name for the 400 mile (approx. 640 km) NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held on the July 4th weekend at Daytona International Speedway. This 160-lap event was developed to make a second major Cup-level racing event for Daytona. The second victory came at Dover, DelawareDover International Speedway is a NASCAR race track located near Dover, Delaware. It is unusual in several respects. It is a concrete track; most NASCAR tracks are asphalt. It is co-located with a horse racing track, Dover Downs and in fact is sometimes a, in the first race after 9/11The attacks of September 11, 2001 were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. Nineteen members of the al-Qaida militant Islamist group hijacked four aircraft. They crashed two into the two towers of the and the third was in the EA Sports 500 at TalladegaTalladega Superspeedway is now the official name of a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, that was formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway''. It was constructed in the 1960s by International Speedway Corporation, a business cont--the site of his father's final victory. That Talladega victory earned Junior a Winston No Bull 5 $1 million bonus. The season of emotion produced nine top-fives and 15 top-10 finishes, as well as two Bud Poles.
In 2002, Junior had a roller-coaster season. He struggled after enduring a concussion at Fontana in April -- an injury he did not admit to until mid-September. In the three races following Fontana, Earnhardt Jr. finished no better than 30th. Still, Junior rallied to score two more wins at Talladega, a pair of Bud Pole Awards and an 11th-place finish in the final standings.
In 2004, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Daytona 500, 6 years to the day after his father won his only title in the "Super Bowl Of Motorsports". In July, during on off-weekend from NASCAR, Dale Jr. crashed the Corvette he was testing for the American LeMans race. The car burst into flames with Junior still inside. He suffered second and third degree burns on his neck, chin, and legs. The burns prevented him from finishing two races where he was replaced by Martin Truex, Jr. (driver for Chance 2 Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt) and his DEI team mate (John Andretti) in the middle of the races. The burns did not affect Junior in the long run. In the fall, Junior became the first driver to sweep Bristol by winning both the Busch race and Cup race in the same weekend. Also, his fifth cup win of the season (a career high) was also his fifth win at Talladega (another record).
Dale Jr.'s handsome looks have helped his media presence. He has expressed interest in pursuing an acting career. Dale Jr. has appeared in print advertisements for Drakkar Noir Cologne, one of the sponsors of his race car, and in the video for Sheryl Crow's song " Steve McQueen", which pays tribute to the late film star famous for his car chase scenes. He was also featured in a commercial for Wrangler jeans that used the aforementioned song as its background music.
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