Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional
stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''
NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the
NASCAR Xfinity Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
, driving the No. 88
Chevrolet Camaro for his team
JR Motorsports
JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Par ...
and part-time in the
CARS Late Model Stock Tour, driving the No. 3
Chevrolet Camaro for his team
JR Motorsports
JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Par ...
. He is the son of
Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driv ...
, who was inducted into the
NASCAR Hall of Fame. He is also the grandson of NASCAR driver
Ralph Earnhardt
Ralph Lee Earnhardt (February 23, 1928 – September 26, 1973) was an American stock car racer. He was the father of 7 time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, grandfather of Kerry Earnhardt, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Dale Earnhardt Jr., a ...
, the brother of
Kelley Earnhardt-Miller
Kelley King Earnhardt Miller (née Earnhardt; formerly Earnhardt-Elledge; born August 28, 1972) is an American businesswoman. She is the Chief Executive Officer of JR Motorsports which she co-owns with her brother, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and she is ...
, the half-brother of former driver
Kerry Earnhardt and the uncle of driver
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Jeffrey Lynn Earnhardt (born June 22, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. He is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, gran ...
.
Earnhardt's success at
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...
throughout his career earned him the nickname "Pied Piper" of Daytona. He is a two-time
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
winner (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
and
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
), and has won the
Most Popular Driver Award fifteen consecutive times from 2003 to 2017.
After driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for
Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) was a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, t ...
(DEI), his father's team in the
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
, for much of his early Cup career, he moved to
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...
to drive the No. 88 in 2008. He remained with HMS until his retirement as a full-time driver in 2017. Earnhardt retired with 26 wins in the Cup Series, a total that ranks him tied for 31st in NASCAR history (with
Fred Lorenzen) as of March 2021.
Racing career
Early life and career
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was born and raised in
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...
, the son of Brenda Lorraine Jackson
and
Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driv ...
His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee Sr., was a NASCAR car builder. He has an elder sister,
Kelley
Kelley may refer to:
* Kelley (name), a given name and surname
Places
;United States
* Kelley, Iowa
* Kelley Hill in Fort Benning, Georgia
* Kelley Park, in San Jose, California
* Kelley Square, in Worcester, Massachusetts
* Kelley Township, ...
; an elder half-brother,
Kerry
Kerry or Kerri may refer to:
* Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Kerry, Queensland, Australia
* County Kerry, Ireland
** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...
, from his father's first marriage; and a younger half-sister, Taylor Earnhardt-Putnam, from his father's third marriage. He is of part
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
ancestry.
His parents divorced shortly after he was born, and he and Kelley lived with Brenda Earnhardt until their house was destroyed in a fire when he was 6 years old. As Brenda had no financial support after the fire, she gave up custody of the 2 children to Earnhardt Sr. prior to his marriage to
Teresa Houston. During Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s childhood, Kelley took care of him while their father and stepmother were busy with the race seasons. When he became a delinquent at the age of 12, he was sent to
Oak Ridge Military Academy
Oak Ridge Military Academy (ORMA) is a college-preparatory military school in northwestern Guilford County, North Carolina. The school is the third oldest military academy in the United States and the first military boarding school to admit girls ...
;
three weeks later, Kelley quit high school to join him.
He considered remaining at Oak Ridge for his senior year, but instead decided to attend
Mooresville High School, from which he graduated in 1992.
Earnhardt Jr. attended the high performance driving school run by
Andy Hillenburg and began his racing career at the late age of 17 with his father, competing in the Street Stock division at
Concord, North Carolina
Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...
's Motorsport Park. His first race car was a 1979 Monte Carlo that he co-owned with Kerry. By age 19, after two seasons of driving Street Stock Division, Earnhardt Jr. had honed his driving abilities to the point of joining the Late Model Stock Car Division. He competed on the North and South Carolina short tracks driving a No. 3 Buick. While he did run various tracks during this time, Earnhardt Jr. primarily focused his efforts at the
Myrtle Beach Speedway
Myrtle Beach Speedway (originally named Rambi Raceway), was built in 1958 and was located on U.S. Route 501 near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The speedway was a semi-banked asphalt oval track that spans .The NASCAR Cup Series competed at the Sp ...
in South Carolina and the East Carolina Motor Speedway in
Robersonville, North Carolina, where he captured the pole for the Greenville Merchants 300 on October 28, 1994. There, he developed an in-depth knowledge of chassis setup and car preparation, while racing against his siblings. He worked at his father's dealership as a mechanic while he went to
Mitchell Community College to earn an
associate degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree.
The fi ...
in
automotive technology.
Earnhardt Jr. ran nine
Busch Series races between 1996 and 1997 for
Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) was a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, t ...
, and
Ed Whitaker
Charles Edward (Ed) Whitaker (June 27, 1939 – August 22, 2014) was an American stock car racing, stock car team owner. A native of Bristol, Virginia, he fielded a team in the NASCAR Busch Series for 20 seasons, with drivers including Dale Earnha ...
, respectively, before driving for his father's team in the Busch Series full-time in 1998, in which he started the season with an amazing blow over after contact with
Dick Trickle and
Buckshot Jones at Daytona, on the same weekend that his father had
his first and only Daytona 500 win. Earnhardt won consecutive NASCAR Busch Series Championships in 1998 and 1999 barely edging
Matt Kenseth. In 1998, he made his first start in the
Winston Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
, at the exhibition race held at the
Twin Ring Motegi in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Also in 1999, he drove in five Winston Cup races in the No. 8
Budweiser-sponsored Chevrolet for DEI in preparation for a full-time Cup Series ride in 2000, with his best finish being a tenth-place finish at Richmond in the fall race.
2000
![Dale Earnhardt Jr car](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Dale_Earnhardt_Jr_car.jpg)
The 2000 season was Earnhardt's breakout year in the Winston Cup Series. He competed for the Raybestos
NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award in 2000. His primary competitor for the award was
Matt Kenseth. Kenseth outran Earnhardt in the season-opening
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
. Earnhardt scored his first win in the DirecTV 500 at
Texas Motor Speedway, breaking the record held by his father Earnhardt Sr. for fewest starts by a driver to earn his first victory in NASCAR's "modern era" by winning in his 12th start, and also at
Richmond International Raceway. He became the first rookie to win
The Winston
The NASCAR All-Star Race, formerly known as The Winston from 1985 to 2003, the Nextel All-Star Challenge from 2004 to 2007, the Sprint All-Star Race from 2008 to 2016, and the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race from 2017 to 2019, is an annual NA ...
.
Earnhardt played a part in recreating one Winston Cup milestone in 2000 when he competed with his father and half-brother Kerry in the
Pepsi 400 at
Michigan International Speedway. That occasion was only the second time that a father had raced against two sons –
Lee Petty and his two sons
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
and
Maurice had previously accomplished the feat.
Earnhardt ended the 2000 season with two wins, three Top 5's, five Top 10's, and two poles.
2001
In 2001, the major event of the season occurred on February 18, in the final corner of the final lap of the
2001 Daytona 500
The 2001 Daytona 500, the 43rd running of the Daytona 500, event, was the first race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series schedule. It was held on February 18, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, consisting of 200& ...
. As Earnhardt Jr. and his teammate
Michael Waltrip
Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, and published author. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience. He is the younger brother o ...
raced to the finish line, he finished second to Waltrip. His father had crashed in turn 4 after
Sterling Marlin made contact with his left rear bumper. Earnhardt Sr. shot up the track into the outside wall behind Waltrip and his son and collected
Ken Schrader in the process. Earnhardt Sr. was pronounced
dead at 5:16 pm due to a
basilar skull fracture.
In the aftermath, many disgruntled fans sent death threats to Marlin and his family, blaming him for the crash; Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip both requested that fans stopped blaming anybody for Earnhardt Sr.'s death and both the local police and NASCAR investigations into the crash cleared Marlin of any involvement. Earnhardt Jr. raced at
Rockingham the following weekend, but finished in 43rd-place after a wreck on the first lap that looked eerily similar to his father's wreck just a week earlier.
Returning to Daytona for the
Pepsi 400, Earnhardt Jr. made a comeback and had the dominant car of the race, leading 115 out of 160 laps. On the last restart, he managed to make a move from sixth to first place in the span of two laps, with Waltrip holding off the field as Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag. He won the
MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400
MBNA Corporation was a bank holding company and parent company of wholly owned subsidiary MBNA America Bank, N.A., headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, prior to being acquired by Bank of America in 2006.
History
The former Maryland National ...
at
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
, which was the first Winston Cup Series race following the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
as the original scheduled race at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway was postponed until the end of the season. After the race, he performed a
Polish victory lap
A victory lap (also lap of honor) is a term used in motorsports to describe an extra lap of the race track after the conclusion of a race. This lap, driven at reduced speed, allows the winning driver to celebrate their victory and gives the sp ...
while holding a large American flag out the driver's side window.
In October, Earnhardt Jr. took his second restrictor plate win as he won the
EA Sports 500
The YellaWood 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, hosting an event in the NASCAR playoffs. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with tapered spacers, the others ...
at
Talladega, for which he also scored a Winston No Bull 5 $1 million bonus. He was docked 25 points, however, after his car failed post-race inspection. With this win, DEI swept three of the four restrictor plate races for 2001, only failing to win the spring Talladega race. He finished the 2001 season eighth in the points standings with three wins, nine Top 5's, 15 Top 10's, and two poles.
2002–03
![Daleearnhardtjr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Daleearnhardtjr.jpg)
In 2002, Earnhardt Jr. had a roller-coaster season. He struggled after enduring a
concussion
A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
from a head-on collision to the outside wall at the
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
race in April – an injury he did not admit to until mid-September. In the three races following California, he finished no better than 30th. However, Earnhardt Jr. rallied to sweep both
Talladega races (leading a dominating 133 of 188 laps in the spring race), a pair of Bud Pole Awards and an 11th-place finish in the points standings with 11 Top 5's and 16 Top 10's.
In 2003, Earnhardt Jr. became a true title contender, scoring a record-breaking fourth consecutive win at Talladega, after being involved in a 27-car crash on lap 4. He struggled for most of the race, and was at points a half-lap down, only catching back up to the pack through a caution. The win was controversial because with five laps to go, it appeared that Earnhardt went below the yellow line to gain position, but NASCAR ruled that
Matt Kenseth had forced him below the line, making it a clean pass.
He later scored a victory at
Phoenix in October, recording a career best third-place effort in the point standings, with 13 Top 5's and 21 Top 10's. He also took home the NMPA Most Popular Driver award for the first time in his career.
2004–06
![Dale Earnhardt Jr car2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Dale_Earnhardt_Jr_car2006.jpg)
In 2004, Earnhardt won the
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, six years to the day after his father won his only title in the Great American Race (and 3 years after his father was killed in the
2001 race). Earnhardt came very close to sweeping Speedweeks, as in addition to the Daytona 500, he also won his Gatorade Duel and the Busch Series race. However, he finished 2nd in the
Budweiser Shootout
The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 2022, ...
to
Dale Jarrett
Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champio ...
.
On July 18, during the summer off-weekend, Earnhardt crashed a
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
The Chevrolet Corvette C5-R is a grand touring racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing. The car is based on the C5 generation of the Chevrolet Corvette sports car, yet is designed purely for motorspo ...
during a practice for the
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
Grand Prix of Sonoma
The Grand Prix of Sonoma was a sports car race held at Sonoma Raceway (formerly Sears Point Raceway and Infineon Raceway) in Sonoma, California. It began in 1976 as an IMSA GT Championship race, before joining the American Le Mans Series
Th ...
at
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern S ...
. The car slid off course and hit a concrete barrier during warm-up the day of the race, rupturing a fuel line and causing the car to burst into flames with him still inside. He suffered second and third degree burns on his neck, chin, and legs partially due to not wearing a protective
balaclava with his helmet. The burns prevented him from finishing two races where he was relieved by
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...
(at New Hampshire) and his DEI teammate
John Andretti (at Pocono) in the middle of the races. In the fall, Earnhardt became the first driver to sweep a weekend at
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
by winning both the Busch and Nextel Cup races in the same weekend.
![Dale Earnhardt Jr and team in the winners circle photo D Ramey Logan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Dale_Earnhardt_Jr_and_team_in_the_winners_circle_photo_D_Ramey_Logan.jpg)
Earnhardt was able to qualify for the NASCAR 10-race playoff, and had his 5th NEXTEL Cup win of the season (a career high) at Talladega. However, he was penalized 25 points for use of an obscenity during the television broadcast, in violation of a new NASCAR rule prohibiting participants from using obscene language (the rule had been created the week after the Daytona 500, in the wake of the
Super Bowl half-time show controversy). That incident, combined with two consecutive DNF's in the Chase, eventually dropped him out of the running, and he finished fifth in the 2004 NEXTEL Cup Chase despite a career-high 6 wins at Daytona, Atlanta, Richmond, Bristol, Talladega and defending his fall win at Phoenix (though under the non-Chase points system, Earnhardt would have tied his third-place points finish of the previous year). He closed off the 2004 season with 6 wins, sixteen Top 5s, and twenty-one Top 10 finishes. He also picked up his 2nd consecutive Most Popular Driver Award.
At the close of the 2004 season, it was revealed that Tony Eury Sr. would be promoted to the team manager position for the DEI corporation, while
Tony Eury Jr. became the crew chief for
Michael Waltrip
Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, and published author. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience. He is the younger brother o ...
for the 2005 season. Peter Rondeau, a Chance 2 employee who also helped Earnhardt win the Busch Series race at Bristol in August, became the crew chief for Earnhardt in 2005. Rondeau served as Earnhardt's crew chief until the
Coca-Cola 600 weekend, when he was replaced with DEI chief engineer Steve Hmiel, who helped Earnhardt score his lone win of 2005 at Chicagoland in July, when he took the lead from
Matt Kenseth on the last cycle of pit stops. Earnhardt was eliminated from any possible competition for the
NEXTEL Cup
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
championship after suffering an engine failure at the
California Speedway. Earnhardt was reunited with his cousin, Tony Eury Jr., after the fall Richmond weekend, and results improved immediately. Earnhardt finished the season 19th in points. For the 3rd straight year, he took home the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award.
![dalejrmerchandisehauler](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Dalejrmerchandisehauler.JPG)
Earnhardt's proficiency as a car owner continued. His race team outside of DEI,
JR Motorsports
JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Par ...
, in 2005 fielded a car in the USAR Hooters ProCup Series, winning once and qualifying for the Four Champions playoff. Mark McFarland moved to the Busch Series in 2006, driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports US Navy Chevrolet, with Richard Childress Racing providing assistance; however, he was fired before the fall Michigan race, the
Carfax 250. He was replaced by
Robby Gordon and
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...
for the rest of the year. Long-time short track racer Shane Huffman drove Earnhardt's USAR Hooters ProCup car in 2006. In 2006, during the spring weekend at
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...
, Earnhardt and other DEI drivers drove with special black
paint schemes on their cars, reminiscent of his late father's famous No. 3 paint scheme. On
Father's Day in 2006, he drove a vintage Budweiser car at Michigan International Speedway to honor both his grandfather (
Ralph Earnhardt
Ralph Lee Earnhardt (February 23, 1928 – September 26, 1973) was an American stock car racer. He was the father of 7 time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, grandfather of Kerry Earnhardt, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Dale Earnhardt Jr., a ...
) and his father, who at one point in both their careers used the No. 8 car. After rain caused the race to be ended early, Earnhardt finished 3rd with
Kasey Kahne winning the race. After 17 races in the 2006 season, Earnhardt sat 3rd in the championship standings with 1 win, coming at Richmond in May 2006.
During the race at New Hampshire, he experienced the second engine failure of his 2006 season, ultimately leading to a 43rd-place finish. Following New Hampshire was the race at Pocono, where he was running in the middle of the pack when he crashed in turn 2. These two events catapulted him to 11th in the points standing, out of the Chase for the Cup. At
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...
, Earnhardt and his crew made a critical decision to stay out on the final pit stop to get a much needed Top 10 finish to move him up to 10th in the points. He made the
2006 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup after finishing 17th in the
Chevy Rock and Roll 400
The Federated Auto Parts 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, being the second of two races at the track with the first one being the Toyota Owners 400 in the spring. As of 2020 ...
at
Richmond International Raceway on September 9, 2006. He came close to winning at Talladega, and was leading on the last lap when
Brian Vickers made contact with Earnhardt's future teammate
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
, sending Johnson into Earnhardt and spinning both of them out. His points position going into the Chase was 6th. He finished the season 5th in the point standings, 147 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
2007: Final Season At DEI
![DaleEarnhardtJrSharpieBuschCar2007Miami](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/DaleEarnhardtJrSharpieBuschCar2007Miami.jpg)
Earnhardt began the
2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
The 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 59th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 36th modern-era Cup series. Beginning on February 10 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout, the season ...
season by finishing 32nd at the
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
as the result of a late race crash. His first Top 10 came at
Bristol Motor Speedway in the
Food City 500, where he finished 7th. His first Top 5 came at
Martinsville Speedway in the Goody's Cool Orange 500. He led 136 laps and finished 5th. He collected his third Top 10 of the season and his 8th at
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...
with his 7th-place performance in the 2007
Aaron's 499
The GEICO 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of ...
. On May 14, 2007, he was docked 100 driver championship points, car owner
Teresa Earnhardt
Teresa Earnhardt (née Houston; born October 29, 1958) is the third wife and widow of Dale Earnhardt. She is the biological mother of Taylor Nicole Earnhardt (born December 20, 1988) and she is the stepmother of Kerry Earnhardt, Kelley Earnhardt ...
was docked 100 owner points, and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was fined $100,000 and suspended for 6 races due to the use of illegal mounting brackets used to attach the wing to his car. During the April race at
Texas Motor Speedway he drove the last 10 laps in the No. 5 car of
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
owned by
Rick Hendrick.
On May 27, 2007, Earnhardt rode a
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...
No. 8 car in the
Coca-Cola 600 on
Memorial Day to raise money for the families of military troops.
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
,
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
,
Greg Biffle
Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and full-time in the ...
,
Mark Martin,
Ward Burton
John Edward Burton III (born October 25, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has five career wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, including the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500. He is the older brothe ...
,
Denny Hamlin,
Casey Mears,
Shane Huffman
Shane S. Huffman (born December 30, 1973) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and current crew chief for Bret Holmes' No. 23 team in the ARCA Menards Series. He drove the No. 40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado in the Cra ...
and
Bill Elliott
William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...
also changed their paint schemes for the occasion. He finished eighth, after leading with seven laps to go, but he had to pit for fuel and
Casey Mears finished with the win.
On August 5, 2007, Earnhardt earned his first pole position in a race since 2002 at
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...
. Although
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
won the race, Earnhardt had a dramatic comeback to finish 2nd after spinning out and experiencing shock troubles. Earnhardt led for eight laps before Busch took over. On August 12 at
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...
, Earnhardt was making the push into the Top 12 of the
Nextel Cup
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
standings from his No. 13 position. After being at the No. 2 position during the race, Earnhardt had engine problems on lap 64 and had to end his race day. After the Glen, he tried furiously to reach the 12th spot in standings. However, a resurgence by
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
and a blown engine during the final race at
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
ended his Chase hopes. That was his last chance to participate for the Championship at
Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) was a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, t ...
(DEI). After the 2007 season, Dale Jr. won the NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award for the 5th consecutive time.
After the season, Earnhardt, who had always been fascinated with
Australian V8 Supercars, test drove the cars on vacation in Australia.
Move to Hendrick Motorsports
After much speculation, Earnhardt announced on May 10, 2007, that he would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his father, to drive for another team in 2008. Earnhardt expressed that his decision was based entirely on his desires to achieve his career goal of a
Sprint Cup Championship, and his apparent belief that he would not be able to attain that objective while driving for DEI. He said that unless he could gain majority ownership, and therefore control, of DEI, that he was not confident in the organization's ability to field the elite level equipment that would yield the elusive title.
![DaleNumber88Announcement](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/DaleNumber88Announcement.jpg)
On June 13, 2007, he announced at a press conference that he had signed a five-year contract with
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...
, replacing
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
. At the time,
Hendrick Hendrick may refer to:
People
* Hendrick (given name), alternative spelling of the Dutch given name Hendrik
* Hendrick (surname)
* King Hendrick (disambiguation), one of two Mohawk leaders who have often been conflated:
** Hendrick Tejonihokarawa ( ...
consisted of
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
,
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
, and
Casey Mears.
One month later on July 13, 2007, it was announced that his long-time primary sponsor
Budweiser would not be with Earnhardt when he made the move to Hendrick. Other contractual agreements in place at Hendrick Motorsports are said to have prevented a relationship with Bud. Due to a previous friendship between team owner
Rick Hendrick and Earnhardt's father, Earnhardt later said that going to drive for Hendrick almost felt like driving for a second family team.
On August 15, 2007, it was announced that Earnhardt would not be taking his familiar No. 8 with him to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. His late grandfather,
Ralph Earnhardt
Ralph Lee Earnhardt (February 23, 1928 – September 26, 1973) was an American stock car racer. He was the father of 7 time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, grandfather of Kerry Earnhardt, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Dale Earnhardt Jr., a ...
, used that number, while Earnhardt picked it when he entered the Cup Series in 1999. His father also used No. 8 early in his career. Earnhardt Jr. blamed his stepmother for not allowing the No. 8 to move with him to Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt said negotiations broke down when Teresa Earnhardt asked for part of the licensing revenue, along with wanting the number back after he retired. (The No. 8 team, after a successful season in 2008 with co-drivers
Mark Martin and
Aric Almirola
Aric Michael Almirola (born March 14, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 10 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. A graduate of Hillsborough High School in T ...
, would end up being shut down in 2009 after DEI's merger with
Ganassi Racing.)
Earnhardt moved to the No. 88 car with
Tony Eury Jr. coming to Hendrick to remain as his crew chief. On September 19, 2007, the official announcement was made that Earnhardt would be driving the No. 88
Mountain Dew AMP
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
/
National Guard Chevrolet Impala for the 2008 season.
The No. 88, according to NASCAR archives, was driven by Ralph Earnhardt, his paternal grandfather, in 1957. His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee, was one of the first employees of All Star Racing, initially a Late Model Sportsman (now Xfinity Series) team with Gee as Hendrick's partner, which is now Hendrick Motorsports. Hendrick said about Earnhardt and his uncles, "I can look at Robert Gee Jr., or Jimmy Gee, or Dale Jr. and all I see is Robert Gee. They're the spitting image of him. I go back and look and pictures from when we did things together, and I have to say, I owe Robert a lot." Starting in the 2008 season, Hendrick Motorsports merged its Nationwide Series team to Earnhardt's JR Motorsports, with the cars coming from Earnhardt's shop, which employs his mother and uncles.
2008
![Dale Earnhardt, Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Dale_Earnhardt%2C_Jr._2008_Amp_Chevy_Impala.jpg)
Earnhardt started the 2008 season by winning the
Budweiser Shootout
The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 2022, ...
, a non-points paying exhibition. It was his first race for Hendrick. He led for a total of 47 out of 70 laps, a Budweiser Shootout record. He followed that up five days later with a win in the first of the
Gatorade Duels. This was his third career win in the duels, however he was unable to follow it up with victory in the
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, finishing 9th.
Ryan Newman was the winner of the event.
Earnhardt was docked 50 points because his rear spoiler did not meet the specified height in the Nationwide Series. His crew chief
Chad Walter
Charles David Walter (born June 10, 1971) is a NASCAR Crew chief (auto racing), crew chief who works for Spire Motorsports as the crew chief of the No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Rajah Caruth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Career
Wal ...
was fined $35,000, suspended for 6 races and was placed on probation until December 31, 2008. Team owner
Rick Hendrick was also docked 50 owner points along with Earnhardt.
At
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, Earnhardt broke his 76-race winless streak, managing to stretch his fuel mileage enough to allow him to win under a caution on the last lap of a green-white-checkered (overtime) finish. He did not find much success after the Michigan win. He then went back to Talladega Superspeedway for the
AMP Energy 500 where he was en route to a possible win before being caught up in "The Big One" late in the race. He headed to
Martinsville Speedway where he finished 2nd to teammate
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
. He ended the season in the garage area at Homestead Miami Speedway in The Ford 400 after losing his brakes with just a few laps to go in the race. Earnhardt finished the season 12th in points, 557 points behind champion Jimmie Johnson.
2009
In the season-opening
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, Earnhardt began well, even leading for a lap. However multiple misfortunes, including a missed pit stop and a 1-lap penalty for pitting outside of his pit box, sent him far into the back of the running order. Earnhardt was then directly involved in a controversial crash on lap 124, when, while fighting to return to the lead lap, he came in contact with
Brian Vickers while fighting to be the first driver one lap down (who gets a free pass should the caution flag come out), causing a 10-car pileup which included
Denny Hamlin,
Scott Speed
Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver who has competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel, stock car, and rallycross racing.
In , Speed became the first American driver to race in Formula One since ...
,
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
,
Kyle
Kyle or Kyles may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada
Ireland
* Kyle, County Laois
* Kyle, County Wexford
Scotland
* Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...
and
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
,
Robby Gordon,
Jamie McMurray, and
Carl Edwards. Vickers and Kyle Busch later criticized Earnhardt, who denied purposely clipping Vickers. Earnhardt criticized Vickers for blocking him on the inside. The race concluded early due to the rain and Earnhardt officially finished 27th. He later apologized for his actions but maintained that he never intended to wreck Vickers.
After a blown engine at California and falling to 35th in owners' points, he finished 10th at Las Vegas and reached 29th place in points. He finished 8th at Martinsville. He had a string of poor finishes including 20th at Texas, and 31st at Phoenix after being spun out by
Casey Mears. He gained confidence in his team with a very strong performance at Talladega, leading for 20 laps, and finishing second to his protege
Brad Keselowski after Keselowski sent Edwards flying into the catch fence. However, two weeks later at Richmond, Earnhardt finished 27th. He was again spun out late in the race at Darlington and ended the race in 27th place. He then finished 10th in the All-Star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt's poor performance continued as he finished 40th at the Coca-Cola 600 due to an ill-handling race car, after which Tony Eury Jr. was fired as his crew chief on May 28, 2009.
Lance McGrew was named interim crew chief starting with the June 2009 race at Pocono, with team manager Brian Whitesell calling the shots at Dover the previous week. Earnhardt finished 12th at Dover for the Autism Speaks 400 with McGrew as his crew chief after contending for the lead. At Pocono Raceway, however, he again ended with a 27th-place finish. Earnhardt improved thereafter following the change, finishing fifteenth at
Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...
, though he had one DNF at Daytona International Speedway after being taken out of the race early in a large pileup.
At the Carfax 400 at Michigan, Earnhardt charged to the front near the end of the race and finished 3rd; he also earned his second Top 5 finish this season in the same race. Earnhardt finished 9th in the Sharpie 500 a week later at Bristol, but his bad luck continued at the Auto Club Speedway when he was involved in a multi-car incident. After a 39th qualifying run at Lowe's Motor Speedway, he said "I'm about to the end of my rope". At the fall Talladega race, Earnhardt had a solid run, including leading several laps, before finishing in 11th place. Lance McGrew had the "interim" taken off of his title, and he continued working with the No. 88 team through the end of the 2010 season. Earnhardt ended 2009 winless scoring two top-fives, five top-tens, an average finish of 23.3, and finished a career low 25th in the standings.
2010
![Dale Earnhardt Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Dale_Earnhardt_Jr._Sonoma_2010.jpg)
On February 6, 2010, Earnhardt qualified second overall for the 52nd
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
after losing the pole position to teammate
Mark Martin. He started 1st in the Gatorade Duel No. 2 on February 11 of that year. He finished 11th in the 2010
Budweiser Shootout
The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 2022, ...
after struggling with an ill-handling car for most of the race.
On February 13, 2010, while running in the front of the pack at the
Daytona Nationwide Series race, Earnhardt was caught up in a multi-car wreck, causing his car to flip upside down on the backstretch. He walked away from the wreck uninjured. His driver
Danica Patrick
Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...
was caught up in another wreck before Earnhardt flipped. The next day during the
2010 Daytona 500
The 2010 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The 52nd running of the Daytona 500, it was held on February 14, 2010, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway, before a crowd of abo ...
Jr. made a late charge to the front of the pack coming from 6th to 2nd in one turn but his run was foiled by
Jamie McMurray as Earnhardt Jr, finished 2nd. It was his best run all year. His only other Top 5s came at the July Daytona race and Loudon in September. He finished the year with eight top 10s and 1 pole as consistency plagued the team.
On July 2, 2010, Earnhardt raced the No. 3 blue and yellow Wrangler
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
(painted to pay tribute to his father and fans) and drove it to victory lane in the Nationwide Series Subway Jalepeño 250 at Daytona. He finished the 2010 Season on November 21, 2010, ranking 21st. Hendrick Motorsports then did a major crew chief shuffle, pairing Earnhardt's crew chief McGrew with Mark Martin, while Gordon's crew chief Steve Letarte moved to the 88 team, and Gordon got Martin's crew chief, Alan Gustafson. On December 2, 2010, it was announced that Earnhardt won the NMPA Most Popular Driver award for the 8th consecutive time.
2011
![Bristol, 31911](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Bristol%2C_31911.jpg)
He began the season by drawing the pole position at the
2011 Budweiser Shootout
The 2011 Budweiser Shootout was a stock car race and the first exhibition event of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on February 12, 2011 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 75-lap race was won by Kurt ...
, where he finished 19th in the race. On February 13, he earned his first pole position at Daytona International Speedway, as well as his first at a track that uses
restrictor plates. Due to a practice crash, he had to start at the back of the field for both the duel race and the 500. He finished 24th in the
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
after being wrecked with 4 laps to go. Over the next seven races, Earnhardt would achieve five Top 10 finishes, including a 2nd-place finish at Martinsville after losing the lead to Kevin Harvick with 4 laps to go, and a 4th-place finish at
Talladega in a photo finish with
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
,
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
,
Mark Martin,
Clint Bowyer, and
Kevin Harvick. Earnhardt came within half a lap of snapping his then-104 race winless streak at the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, when he ran out of fuel during a green-white-checkered finish, finishing 7th. The following week at Kansas, Earnhardt finished 2nd to
Brad Keselowski. He followed this up with a solid 6th-place finish at Pocono. Over the course of the next three races, Earnhardt would slide to 7th in the Championship points, finishing 21st at Michigan, 41st at Infineon, and 19th at Daytona. On September 1, 2011, Earnhardt announced he had signed a 5-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 88 until 2017. On September 19, 2011, Earnhardt made his first
Chase for the Sprint Cup appearance since 2008 at Chicagoland. At the season finale at Homestead, he finished 11th and finished 7th in the final points standings. On December 1, 2011, it was announced that Earnhardt won the Most Popular Driver award for the 9th consecutive time.
2012
Earnhardt started 8th in the Budweiser Shootout, led for several laps, and finished 20th after being caught up in a six-car crash on lap 55 that also involved
Matt Kenseth,
Joey Logano
Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Seri ...
and
Kevin Harvick. In the
Gatorade Duel, Earnhardt performed strong, starting on the outside pole in the first duel race. He led a few laps in the early part of the race before finishing second to
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...
after his Nationwide Series teammate
Danica Patrick
Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...
smashed hard into the inside wall in a last lap crash on the back straightaway. In the postponed
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, he finished in 2nd place behind
Matt Kenseth, after passing
Greg Biffle
Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and full-time in the ...
on the last lap. At Phoenix, Earnhardt's car struggled most of the race and came out with a 14th-place finish.
At Las Vegas, Earnhardt led 70 laps early but finished 10th based on bad pit strategy. At Bristol, Earnhardt finished 15th following a late race contact with teammate Jeff Gordon, and a speeding penalty. Earnhardt would back this up with a pair of back to back 3rd-place finishes at Auto Club and Martinsville Speedway, leaving him second in the standings.
In the following weeks, Earnhardt would bring a string of Top 10s: 10th at Texas, 7th at Kansas, 2nd at Richmond, and 9th at Talladega, where he led 10 laps. The following week, Earnhardt struggled for most of the race at Darlington, and had to settle with a 17th-place finish. At the All-Star Race, Earnhardt won the Sprint Showdown, leading all 40 laps to race his way into the big event. In the event, Earnhardt won the 4th segment and in the final 10 lap shootout, had to settle for a 5th-place finish. The following two weeks, Earnhardt would post of finishes of 6th at Charlotte and 4th at Dover heading into the summer months. At the newly repaved Pocono Raceway, Earnhardt led 36 laps during the race, but made a late race fuel pit stop from 3rd place with just over 20 laps to go, finishing 8th and standing 2nd in points. At the
2012 Quicken Loans 400
The 2012 Quicken Loans 400 was the 15th stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on June 17, 2012, in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, before a crowd of 82,000 people. The track is a superspeedway ...
at Michigan, Earnhardt dominated the race, leading 95 laps, and won, snapping a 143-race winless streak, almost four years to the day after his last win on June 15, 2008. Earnhardt would suffer a 23rd-place finish at Sonoma after being wrecked in a green-white-checkered finish, but was still able to cross the finish line intact and on the lead lap, continuing his streak of being the only driver to finish all races on the lead lap. He would back this up with a fourth-place finish in the
Quaker State 400
The Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart, commonly known as simply the Quaker State 400, was a annual NASCAR Cup Series race held at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. The inaugural event was held on July 9, 2011 and was won by Kyle Busch ...
at Kentucky Speedway.
The following week at Daytona, a last lap crash resulted in a 15th-place finish for Earnhardt but still kept his streak of being the only driver to finish every single lap in every race. Earnhardt backed up with a couple of Top 5 finishes, finishing 4th at both Loudon and Indianapolis, where he gained the points lead for the first time since 2004, after points leader
Matt Kenseth was taken out in a late race crash. Back at Pocono, Earnhardt was running in the 2nd position, but a break in the transmission sent the 88 to the garage, but he came back out 18 laps down and finished 32nd, due to rain that came and ended the race and a late race wreck involving Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Denny Hamlin. His streak of completing on the lead lap came to an end, but he still maintained the points lead with 5 races until the chase cutoff. At Watkins Glen, Earnhardt had a steady Top 10 going in the final laps but a late race spin resulted in a 28th-place finish, this would drop the 88 team from 1st to 4th in the points.
Returning to Michigan for the
Pure Michigan 400
The NASCAR Cup Series has held stock car racing, stock car races annually at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan since 1969. Traditionally, the track held two Cup Series races, one in June, around Father's Day weekend and anothe ...
, Earnhardt had to start in 42nd place after a crash in practice forced him to move to a backup car. He led for a number of laps mid-race and finished on the lead lap in 4th place. Earnhardt,
Ryan Newman and
Kasey Kahne also escaped engine difficulties that plagued
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
,
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
, and
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...
. At
Bristol Motor Speedway, Earnhardt started 16th after a qualifying rainout; he led 13 laps in the race before pit road penalties resulted in a 12th-place finish. The finish locked him into the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup, alongside Greg Biffle, and teammate Jimmie Johnson. At Atlanta Motor Speedway, Earnhardt went a lap down early but recovered to earn a 7th-place finish. The following week at Richmond International Raceway, Earnhardt earned his first pole of the season. He would go on to lead 69 laps, but a late race pit stop resulted in the 88 team getting a 14th-place finish, and being seeded 7th in the standings. In the first race of the chase at Chicagoland Speedway, Earnhardt finished 8th despite having to start at the rear of the field due to an engine change. Finishes of 13th and 11th at Loudon and Dover left the 88 team 7th in the standings.
Concussion
On the morning of October 11, 2012, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Earnhardt would have to sit out the
Bank of America 500 at Charlotte and the
Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas due to a concussion from a 25-car crash on the last lap at Talladega on October 7, 2012. That weekend, Earnhardt finished 20th at Talladega when he took a hard lick in a crash after making contact with
Bobby Labonte. Prior to this, Earnhardt had suffered a concussion during an August 29 test at
Kansas Speedway.
Regan Smith
The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' " ...
was announced to replace him at those two races.
Prior to the concussion, Earnhardt had competed in 461 consecutive races, dating back to the 1999 Atlanta event. The 2012 Bank of America 500 marked the first race since the
1979 Southern 500
The 1979 Southern 500, the 30th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 3, 1979, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
This would be the last race without Dale Earnhardt until 20 ...
that an Earnhardt had not competed in the Sprint Cup Series as
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
had competed in every race from that one up until his death in the
2001 Daytona 500
The 2001 Daytona 500, the 43rd running of the Daytona 500, event, was the first race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series schedule. It was held on February 18, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, consisting of 200& ...
. On October 23, 2012, Earnhardt was cleared for the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville after missing two races. He started strong in the race, but a late race spin with Carl Edwards placed for a 21st-place finish. His first top ten finish after returning to the track was a seventh-place finish at Texas. At Phoenix, Earnhardt fought an ill-handling car, and finished 21st. At the season finale, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Earnhardt would finish 10th. This was his first top 10 finish at the 1.5-mile track, and his 20th of the season. He closed the season 12th in the final standings. On November 29, 2012, it was announced that Earnhardt won the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award for the 10th consecutive year. This tied Bill Elliott's streak of 10 consecutive wins in the award.
2013
![Dale Earnhardt, Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Dale_Earnhardt%2C_Jr.%2C_2013_STP_Gas_Booster_500_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Earnhardt started the 2013 season with an 8th-place finish in the rechristened
Sprint Unlimited
The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 2022, ...
. He qualified 11th for the Budweiser Duel, but he blew an engine in practice, he was forced to drop to the rear of the field. After narrowly missing a 3-car wreck between
Carl Edwards,
Trevor Bayne, and
Regan Smith
The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' " ...
, he finished 9th. He finished fourth at the
DRIVE4COPD 300
The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Beef. It's What's for Dinner. 300, is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is c ...
after submarining under
Alex Bowman
Alex Michael Bowman (born April 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Seri ...
's car in a violent last lap wreck.
In the Sprint Cup Series, Earnhardt hit a slight resurgence, and in the first five races of the season recorded three Top 5s and five Top 10 finishes. It began with a second-place finish to teammate
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
at the
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, Earnhardt's third runner up finish in the 500 since 2010. The following week at Phoenix, he led for 47 laps, but was shuffled back in traffic during a cycle caution flag pit stops, which allowed
Carl Edwards to assume the lead while Junior finished in fifth place. This was followed by two more Top 10 finishes: 7th at Las Vegas and 6th at Bristol. At Fontana, Earnhardt started mid-pack and after a couple of mistakes including a lengthy pit stop caused by missed lug nuts on a right rear tire, he came home in 2nd-place finish, assuming the points lead as a result of
Brad Keselowski going off pace and falling back. Two weeks later in Martinsville, Earnhardt struggled throughout the race, and spun out after
Danica Patrick
Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...
was hit by
Brian Vickers and sent into Earnhardt and ended up finishing 24th, 2 laps down, losing the points lead to Jimmie Johnson.
At Texas, Earnhardt ran near the front until lap 187, when his battery alternator quit and he ended up finishing 29th. At Kansas, he ran near the front until a debris caution happened while he,
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Richard Lynn Stenhouse Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for JTG Daugherty Racing. Stenhouse was the 2010 Nationw ...
, and
Carl Edwards were all on pit road. Earnhardt would go a lap down, take the wave-around, and finish 16th. At Richmond, he finished 10th. At Talladega, he went a lap down early after some banging with
Travis Kvapil. However, with a caution for a crash on lap 43, Earnhardt got the free pass to get back on the lead lap. He made his way back up through the field to the Top 5, but slipped back to 17th at the end.
The following week at Darlington, Earnhardt raced inside the Top 10 much of the night before settling for a 9th-place finish. He was one of only a few cars who were able to avoid being put a lap down by
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
.
The following week in the Sprint All-Star Race, Earnhardt battled a tight handling car much of that night before finishing 7th. The following week for the Coca-Cola 600, Earnhardt lost an engine and finished 39th, giving him his first DNF since 2011. The next two weeks saw a rebound, with finishes of 10th at Dover and 3rd at Pocono. At the Quicken Loans 400, Earnhardt led 23 laps but suffered an engine failure, and finished 37th in what was the lowest point of the season for the Hendrick Motorsports teams as a whole (
Kasey Kahne and
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
both had DNFs due to crashes, and
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
cut a tire with 5 laps to go). After the low of Michigan, Earnhardt had a 12th-place finish at Sonoma.
At Kentucky, Earnhardt won the pole and set a new track qualifying speed record with lap time of 29.406 seconds and a speed of .
Though he started on the pole, he lost the lead to
Carl Edwards early. However, while Earnhardt was leading after the restart from a competition caution (due to a rain delay),
Denny Hamlin cut a tire and the carcass came up the track and was struck by Earnhardt's splitter and also by
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
's car, causing significant damage. Earnhardt had to make several charges through the field to salvage a 12th-place finish. He then took an 8th-place finish at the Coke Zero 400. He, Johnson, and
Ryan Newman were the only three drivers to sweep the Top 10 in both Daytona races.
Earnhardt then battled a struggling car at New Hampshire, where he finished 14th. After the final off week, he found some consistency with finishes of 6th at Indianapolis and 5th at Pocono, while battling loose wheels and vibrations in a span of two weeks.
The No. 88 team then had two bad weeks, with a 30th-place finish at Watkins Glen due to a late race crash with
Kasey Kahne. The next week, Earnhardt blew a right front tire while running in the Top 10. The damage was enough that he finished 26 laps down, in 36th place. This evaporated his Chase cushion, but with finishes of 10th at Bristol and 8th at Atlanta, he was able to rebuild this cushion. At Richmond, the last race of the regular season, Earnhardt only needed to finish 32nd or better to make the Chase. A 13th-place finish did this, and he entered the Chase seeded in ninth place. This was the first time in Earnhardt's career that he had made three straight Chase appearances. In the first Chase race at
Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...
, Earnhardt suffered an engine failure, placing him last in Chase competition. He bounced back at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, leading 17 laps and finishing 6th. The result was good enough to move Earnhardt up to 11th in Chase for the Sprint Cup standings with eight races left in the season.
At Dover, Earnhardt won his second pole of the season, setting a new qualifying speed record of 161.849 mph. This was the first time since 2002 that he had recorded more than one pole during a season. During the race, Earnhardt would lead 80 laps, but would finish 2nd to
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
. The following week at Kansas, he finished 8th. Making his 500th Cup start at Charlotte, Earnhardt led 19 laps early, but finished 15th while battling a tight race car. The following week at Talladega, Earnhardt led 38 laps and was about to receive a push from
Austin Dillon
Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...
to overtake
Jamie McMurray on the last lap when
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Richard Lynn Stenhouse Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for JTG Daugherty Racing. Stenhouse was the 2010 Nationw ...
tapped Dillon, causing that driver to spin out and then get hit by
Casey Mears, leaving Earnhardt with a 2nd-place finish. The following week at Martinville, Earnhardt earned an 8th-place finish. The next week at Texas, he had a solid night, finishing 2nd to Johnson for the third time in the season (after Daytona and Dover). The next week at Phoenix, Earnhardt started by being forced to pit with a loose wheel early, putting him a lap down. However, a caution allowed him to use the free pass to get back on the lead lap and salvage a 4th-place finish.
At the season finale, the last 67 laps saw a tight battle for the lead between Earnhardt;
Matt Kenseth; and
Denny Hamlin. Hamlin won while Earnhardt finished 3rd, giving him his first Top 5 at Homestead. He finished off the season 5th in the points, with two pole positions, ten Top 5s, and a career-high 22 Top 10 finishes.
On December 5, 2013, Earnhardt won the Most Popular Driver Award for the 11th consecutive year, breaking
Bill Elliott
William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...
's record, who scored 10 straight awards from 1991 to 2000.
2014
![Earnhardt Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Earnhardt_Jr.-RSR_3.9.14.JPG)
The No. 88 team made headlines even before the start of the season. During the regular Daytona Winter test in January, it was announced that crew chief Steve Letarte would step down from the pit box after the season to become a full-time member of the upcoming
NASCAR on NBC broadcast team, alongside
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
and
Rick Allen. Earnhardt and Letarte reassured that this move would not interfere with them winning races and competing for the championship at the season's end. In the
Sprint Unlimited
The Busch Light Clash is an annual pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway since the race's inception in 1979 until 2022, ...
, Earnhardt led for 7 laps, but in the last segment, contact with
Marcos Ambrose caused him to hit the wall in turn 1, finishing 9th. In the
first Budweiser Duel, Earnhardt started 4th, and led 14 laps, before fading back to finish where he started.
In the
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, Earnhardt started 9th. His car hung around mid-pack for most of the first quarter of the race. After a six-hour and 22-minute red flag, Earnhardt's car came alive, taking the lead with 70 laps remaining. He led 54 of the last 70 laps and he held off
Denny Hamlin and
Brad Keselowski to win his second Daytona 500, just 10 years after his first one. The following week at Phoenix, Earnhardt continued his momentum, finishing 2nd to
Kevin Harvick. At Las Vegas, Earnhardt gambled on fuel in the remaining 40 laps, but he ran out of gas while leading on the last lap, finishing 2nd to eventual race winner
Brad Keselowski. At Bristol, he was strong early, and had a chance to become the first driver since
Richard Petty
Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...
to start a season with four straight Top 2 finishes, until tire problems forced him to make an unscheduled stop, leaving him to finish 24th, four laps down.
At Auto Club Speedway, Earnhardt started 15th. However, on lap 44, his car lost a right front tire and hit the outside wall in turn 2, bringing out a caution, making him one of several victims of tire failures that plagued the race. After being repaired and falling to the back of the lead lap, Earnhardt made several charges through the field to salvage a 12th-place finish, keeping him at 2nd place in the points. The following week at Martinsville, Earnhardt battled inside the Top 5 all day, leading 25 laps, and finished 3rd, giving him his 4th Top 3 finish of the season, and regained the points lead. At Texas, he crashed on Lap 13 and caught on fire. He finished last and fell 5 positions in points and dropped to 31 points behind new points leader
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
. The following week at Darlington, Earnhardt raced among the Top 5 all night, and was leading on a green-white-checkered finish, before finishing 2nd to
Kevin Harvick.
At Richmond, after the Easter off week, Earnhardt was strong in the race, racing among the Top 3 late, and led 7 laps, but a green-white-checkered, and bad brakes forced Earnhardt to a 7th-place finish. The following week at Talladega, Earnhardt raced among the pack until the middle of the race, when he took the lead. He led for 26 laps, but the last 30 laps saw the car take a conservative pace, and was never able to regain any track position, and finished 26th. At Kansas, for the first night race at the track, Earnhardt ran solidly in the Top 5, even leading a few laps, before finishing 5th.
For the Sprint All-Star Race, Earnhardt started 6th, but battled a tight car all night, and was never a real contender. Earnhardt crossed the finish line 4th. The following week at the Coca-Cola 600, he raced inside the Top 5 for most of the night, before making an unscheduled pit stop for an engine vibration. This resulted in a 19th-place finish, only two laps down. The following week at Dover, Earnhardt raced inside the Top 10 all day, and was running in the Top 5 late, but a mistake on pit road left them with a 9th-place finish.
At Pocono, Earnhardt started eighth and stayed inside the Top 10 most of the afternoon. On the last restart, he was behind
Brad Keselowski. In a reversal of the events at Las Vegas, with 5 laps to go, Keselowski tried to move behind the lap down car of
Danica Patrick
Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...
to get a piece of trash off his grille, which caused Earnhardt to slip by and never look back en route to his first victory at Pocono and second of the season. The win marked the first time since 2004 that he had won multiple races in a season. The next week at Michigan, Earnhardt started inside the Top 5, but finished 7th, after several cars had different pit strategies. The next week at Sonoma, saw Earnhardt have his statistical best road course finish, staying in the top ten for most of the race, and finished 3rd. The following week at Kentucky, Earnhardt finished 5th.
Returning to Daytona, Earnhardt was involved in an early 16-car pileup on the front straightaway on lap 20, but was able to salvage a 14th-place finish by the time the race was called for rain after 112 of 160 laps.
Earnhardt was able to bounce back the following week at New Hampshire with a 10th-place finish. With the finish, he clinched a Chase berth, with him being enough inside the Top 30 and having two victories. The following week, he finished 9th at Indianapolis.
The questions referring to the replacement of Steve Letarte were finally answered on July 30, for it was announced that Greg Ives,
Chase Elliott's Nationwide Series crew chief at
JR Motorsports
JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Par ...
, would return to Hendrick Motorsports, and take over Earnhardt's pit box for 2015.
Returning to Pocono, Earnhardt started 9th. He ran inside the Top 10 for most of the race, and took the lead from
Greg Biffle
Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and full-time in the ...
with 14 laps to go. Earnhardt had built up a lead in excess of three seconds when the caution came out for
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
's cut tire on lap 154, erasing his lead. He then sweated out a four lap shootout on the last restart to take his 3rd win of the year, marking the first time since 2006 that a driver swept both Pocono races (
Denny Hamlin was the last driver). This win tied Earnhardt with
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
and
Brad Keselowski for most wins of the season up to that point.
At Watkins Glen, Earnhardt finished 11th, and due to
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
struggling, assumed the points lead, for the first time since Martinsville in April. The following week at Michigan, he made contact with
Kyle Larson
Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ ...
on pit road, but through hard work from his pit crew, was able to lead four laps and salvage a 5th-place finish.
The following week at Bristol, while running 5th, leader Denny Hamlin was wrecked by Kevin Harvick while racing for the lead, which then sent Hamlin's car into the inside wall. Hamlin's car then slid right back up in front of the No. 88 and slammed into the left-side door of the car, and the contact was bad enough to send Earnhardt behind the wall, and suffer a 39th-place finish. This was his second DNF of the year, after the early exit in the spring Texas race.
In the final race of NASCAR's regular season at Richmond, Earnhardt made his debut with a Nationwide-sponsored No. 88. He raced to a 12th-place finish, after what was a long, difficult night for the team. Despite struggling at the 3/4-mile track, Earnhardt seeded third in the Chase grid, behind series leader Brad Keselowski, and tied with
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
,
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
, and
Joey Logano
Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Seri ...
for 2nd place. He started the Challenger Round of the Chase with an 11th-place finish in Chicago. The following week at New Hampshire, Earnhardt finished a solid 9th-place finish, giving him a comfortable advantage to make the Contender Round after Dover. At Dover, he finished 17th to make it to the next round.
At Kansas, after a 5th-place run in the spring, Earnhardt was looking to repeat this feat to start off the contender with a solid finish to help his chances to extend his run for the championship. After leading 45 laps in the same car he used to win both Pocono races earlier in the season, a cut right front tire resulted in a 39th-place finish. That finish caused him to fall to 11th place in points, 25 points behind 8th place. He came to Charlotte needing a win or a good finish. He led early but around lap 133, his shifter broke due to a vibration (a similar problem had befallen
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
at Michigan in August). He had to make multiple pit stops to fix the problem and never recovered, ending up 20th. He fell to last in the Chase standings, 26 points behind 8th.
At Talladega, Earnhardt started 28th and led for 31 laps. However, a crash on the back straightaway when he was turned by
Greg Biffle
Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and full-time in the ...
ended his title contention chances and left him with a 31st-place finish.
Despite being knocked out of the Chase, Earnhardt continued to be consistent. At Martinsville, he led 79 laps and was leading with ten laps to go when a caution came out for a wreck between
Kyle Larson
Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ ...
and
Marcos Ambrose. On the resulting restart, Earnhardt was running 5th. During the restart, he slipped through the pack and overtook
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...
for the lead in turn 4. He continued to hold the lead to win the race ahead of
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
. It was Earnhardt's first career win at Martinsville.
Returning to Texas, Earnhardt had a rather average run, starting 12th and finishing 6th. At Phoenix, he had a solid day and got another Top 10, finishing 8th. At Homestead, Earnhardt had a tire problem early. He got the free pass and managed to crack the Top 5 at one point but fell back late to finish 14th. He finished 8th in the final standings with what was the best season for Earnhardt since 2004 with 4 wins, 12 Top 5s, 20 Top 10s, and an average finish of 12.2. For the 12th straight year, Earnhardt won the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award.
2015
At the end of the 2014, Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief
Steve Letarte departed Hendrick Motorsports to join
NASCAR on NBC's broadcasting team. Letarte was replaced by
Chase Elliott's 2014 Xfinity crew chief Greg Ives. Due to National Guard dropping their motorsports sponsorships, Earnhardt Jr. also got a new sponsor in the form of
Nationwide Insurance
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and affiliated companies, commonly shortened to Nationwide, is a group of large U.S. insurance and financial services companies based in Columbus, Ohio. The company also operates regional headquarters in Scotts ...
.
![Dale Earnhardt Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Dale_Earnhardt_Jr._takes_the_lead_in_the_Daytona_500.jpg)
Earnhardt Jr. kicked off 2015 with a ninth-place finish in the Sprint Unlimited. On February 19, he won the first Budweiser Duel in what was his fourth triumph in the Budweiser Duels. In the Daytona 500, he led for over 30 laps but on one of the last restarts, he made a move that mired him in the middle without help, and fell back to 16th with 15 laps to go, but managed to make his way back to third place by the last lap. This was his fifth Top 3 finish in the Daytona 500 in six years, after his runner-up finishes in 2010, 2012, and 2013, and his win in 2014.
At Atlanta, Earnhardt Jr. came home with another third-place finish and at Las Vegas, he finished fourth, scoring his third Top 5 finish after taking two tires during green flag pit-stops with 30 laps to go. At Phoenix, he had his worst finish of the year, with a last place finish after a tire-blowout. At Auto Club, he finished 6th. At Martinsville, he also ran inside the Top 20 until a tire-blowout made him get involved in a massive pileup that destroyed the front end of his car. Because of this crash, he would go on to finish 36th. At Texas, he narrowly was beaten by
Kevin Harvick for second place. At Bristol, he ran as high as third until a loose wheel put him down two laps down. Although he never got them back, he was able to bring home a 16th-place finish only two laps down. At Richmond, he ran in the Top 10 all day until he and
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...
made contact but managed to finish 14th.
At Talladega, Earnhardt Jr. started in row 2. He stayed near the front of the pack for most of the day, taking the lead with 27 laps to go and sailing away to his sixth win at the track and his first since October 2004, tying him with teammate
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
for most wins among active drivers at Talladega. At Kansas, he finished third after staying out on the last caution. At Charlotte, he gambled on fuel and barely beat out
Matt Kenseth and
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...
for another third-place finish. Earnhardt led three laps at Dover but a penalty for speeding on pit road cost him, although he was able to finish 14th two laps down.
At Pocono, Earnhardt ran in the top ten all day. On a late restart, he and
Brad Keselowski cut their tires from incidental contact and a caution flew seconds later when Keselowski hit the wall after making contact with
Brett Moffitt. Earnhardt Jr. pitted and restarted 29th with 20 laps to go and salvaged an 11th-place finish. Earnhardt finished second in the rain-shortened Michigan race after he could not pass Kurt Busch on the last restart before the race was called for rain on lap 138. Earnhardt also had another solid Top 10 run at Sonoma, finishing 7th.
Returning to Daytona, Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for the
Coke Zero 400 after qualifying was rained out and the starting lineup was set by opening practice times. In the race itself, after enduring a rain delay, he took the lead early on lap 8, and after leading 97 laps, held off multiple charges from
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
and
Denny Hamlin in the closing laps to take his second win of the year. The win itself, however, was overshadowed by the last lap crash that saw
Austin Dillon
Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...
's car fly into the catch fence. Earnhardt Jr. also became only the 23rd driver in NASCAR Sprint Cup history to lead over 8,000 laps. He achieved this milestone, when he led 97 laps. This brought his career total laps led count to 8,051.
At Kentucky, Earnhardt Jr. struggled with overheated brakes, and even caused a caution when he brushed the outside wall in turns 3 and 4 halfway through the race. Later, on lap 206, he would be the subject of controversy when he rear-ended
Danica Patrick
Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...
and spun her out, in part because of his faulty brakes. Patrick retaliated by cursing at Earnhardt on the radio and ramming him on pit road. Earnhardt was perplexed with Patrick's reaction, saying "I mean, what am I supposed to say other than the truth? We didn't have any brakes going into the corner. I know better than to run into her because it gets so much attention. There wasn't nothing I could do. I mean, as hard as I hit her, what the hell did she think I was doing? Trying to wreck her? We ain't got no problem. It's not like we were having a problem out on the racetrack with her. It's not like I just drew her name out of a hat and decided she was the one I was going to run into tonight."
![5 Hour Energy DSC 0130 (19898142271)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/5_Hour_Energy_DSC_0130_%2819898142271%29.jpg)
At New Hampshire, Earnhardt Jr. started 19th and finished 5th.
At Indianapolis, Earnhardt Jr. was running well until lap 147, when he got forced into the grass in turn 1 and spun out. He was able to salvage a 22nd-place finish.
Returning to Pocono, Earnhardt Jr. was involved in a spin on a restart on lap 72 that also involved
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
. His car did not take severe damage, however, and despite running mid-pack for most of the second half of the race and running 17th with four laps to go, he ended up finishing in fourth place after many other drivers including the leaders at four laps to go ran out of fuel.
At Watkins Glen, Earnhardt was able to start 7th and finished 11th after running in the top 10 all day, but running out of fuel on the last lap.
Returning to Michigan, Earnhardt Jr. started inside the top 10 and was running in the top 3 in the early part of the race. After battling an ill-handling racecar, he was able to finish 10th.
Earnhardt returned to Bristol looking for his first win at that track since 2004. He qualified 26th and after the first caution came out he would pit. During the pit stop the crew would leave a wheel loose and Earnhardt would pit again. After going a lap down multiple times in the race, he got the Lucky Dog and got back on the lead lap. After moving up to the top 5 later on in the race, he would settle for a 9th-place finish.
The series would take an off week and return to Darlington. Again Earnhardt would have to start mid-pack. He would run outside the top 10 most of the day, but the crew would make right adjustments and they would finish 8th.
The regular season finale would take place at Richmond for the 26th race. Earnhardt would qualify 29th and was puzzled in his interview afterwards. During the race, Earnhardt made steady climbs and by halfway had cracked the top ten. Earnhardt would climb as high as 4th and end up finishing 5th. He made the chase for the 8th time in his career and was seeded 6th for the first Chase race.
Earnhardt Jr. opened the Challenger Round with a 12th-place finish at Chicagoland. At New Hampshire, he ran up front for most of the day, but an emergency fuel stop with two laps to go led him to finish 25th, two laps down, and at the bottom of the Chase cutline. At Dover, despite falling back at a few points, Earnhardt Jr. was locked in a battle with
Jamie McMurray for control of the final transfer spot into the Contender Round. He almost did not make it into the next round, with his chances being saved thanks to a caution for
Brett Moffitt's crash on lap 357 keeping him from having to make a green flag pit stop to replace a loose wheel. On the last restart, Earnhardt Jr. overtook McMurray on the outside, and finished third, clinching the final transfer spot and bumping McMurray out of the Chase.
At Charlotte, Earnhardt Jr was battling for a position inside the top 10 when he made contact
Carl Edwards and hit the wall ending up 29th. At Kansas, Earnhardt Jr had to pit for a loose wheel under green and ended up finishing 21st, 2 laps down. Heading into Talladega, he basically needed to win to advance. He led 61 laps, but he slid his tires coming onto pit road and ended up having to take 2 tires instead of fuel only while others were taking fuel only. He ended up on the front row, heading into the only GWC. But a wreck behind him ended up cutting it short and he ended up 2nd upon a review, eliminating him from the championship. At Martinsville, the week after he was eliminated from Chase Contention, he was strong all race taking home a 4th-place finish at the track. At Texas the following week Earnhardt recovered from an early spin to finish 6th. Earnhardt Jr. managed to get his 3rd victory of the season at Phoenix, after the race was called for rain. At the season finale at Homestead Earnhardt crashed early in the race, winding up 40th. For the 13th consecutive year, Earnhardt won the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award.
2016
![Dale Earnhardt, Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Dale_Earnhardt%2C_Jr._-_Sarah_Stierch_04.jpg)
Earnhardt started the 2016 season with a crash in the Sprint Unlimited on lap 23 when
Brian Vickers cut down a tire and hit him, damaging the side of his car. This would allow him to finish 15th, four laps down. He then went on to win the first
Can-Am Duel race for the second year in a row. In the Daytona 500, he was strong early in the race but with 30 laps to go, he spun off of turn 4 while trying to make a move and hit the SAFER barrier head-on. He would wind up 36th. The following week in Atlanta he was very strong, finishing second. The following week, at Las Vegas, Earnhardt had a car that was solid all day and ended with an 8th-place finish. At the spring race in Phoenix, he led for a good portion of the race but stayed out on old tires during overtime. Because of this, he slid his tires on the start, finishing 5th. At Fontana the next week, he struggled throughout the race in the early stages, even being as low as 34th. But in overtime, he made a charge, finishing 11th. At Martinsville, he spun on lap 5, spending 300 laps one lap down. But in the end, he finished 14th and on the lead lap. In Texas, he was strong late in the race, finishing 2nd to Kyle Busch, who won back to back races. At Bristol, he stalled his car on the start, going 2 laps down. But as the race went on, his car came to life and he finished 2nd.
When the Xfinity Series came to Richmond for the running of the Toyota Care 250, Earnhardt would finish 2nd in the first heat race. In the main feature, he would dominate and win the race holding off
Ty Dillon for his first Xfinity win since 2010 and his first for JR Motorsports.
On Lap 50 at the spring Talladega race, he got loose in the draft and just like Daytona he hit the wall, damaging his car. This would result in a 40th-place finish. At Kansas, he started 22nd and finished 15th. The following week at Dover, he would start 2nd because qualifying was rained out, but was involved in a late wreck on a botched restart, finishing 32nd.
In the All-Star Race, qualifying was rained out, so he started 10th due to owner points, but was able to finish 3rd.
Concussions end season
In July, Earnhardt was diagnosed with concussion-like symptoms and would miss the second half of the year as a result. He was replaced by
Alex Bowman
Alex Michael Bowman (born April 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Seri ...
for the
New Hampshire 301 and
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
at the
Brickyard 400 and
Pennsylvania 400
The Unannounced Sponsor Pocono Cup race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Starting in 2022, it is the only Cup Series race at the track after the other Cup Series race at Pocono, the Po ...
. On September 2, Earnhardt announced he would sit out the remainder of the season with Gordon and Bowman continuing their replacement roles in the 88. On December 8, 2016, Earnhardt was medically cleared to return to competition in 2017.
Despite missing the second half of the season, Earnhardt Jr. won the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award for the 14th consecutive time.
It was also during this year that Junior would announce his brain would be donated to science to research how his concussions impacted his brain.
2017: Final year
![Dale Earnhardt Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Dale_Earnhardt_Jr._Homestead_2017.jpg)
Earnhardt started the
2017 Daytona 500
The 2017 Daytona 500, the 59th running of the event, was held on February 26, 2017, and was won by Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing after Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson ran out of fuel over the final laps of the race. This was Busch's first Dayto ...
qualifying second but was wrecked while leading mid-race, and finished 37th. After a string of lackluster finishes, he managed to score a top 5 at the newly repaved Texas. It was his first and only Top 5 finish of the year. On April 25, 2017, Earnhardt announced that 2017 would be his final year driving full-time. Earnhardt Jr. failed to make the Playoffs in his final year, posting a 13th-place finish at Richmond, needing a win to make it in. In his final restrictor plate race at Talladega, Earnhardt would start on the pole and he would miss three big wrecks in the closing laps to finish seventh. In his final career race, Earnhardt started in 24th place and finished in 25th place. He ended up in 21st in points standings. He ended up with only one Top 5, eight Top 10's, two poles, and seven DNF's. However he did win his 15th consecutive and final Most Popular Driver award. Even though 15 straight years of Earnhardt being most popular driver is a NASCAR record, he is second all-time to
Bill Elliott
William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...
, who has 16 most popular driver awards, including 10 straight.
2018–present
After his retirement, Earnhardt began sporadically racing in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports. In 2018, he ran the fall Xfinity race at Richmond in the No. 88, after qualifying second, he dominated by leading 96 of the 250 laps, but would ultimately finish fourth after a late race restart. The following year, he contested the
Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200
Stock car racing events in the NASCAR Xfinity Series has been held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina since the series' inaugural season in 1982. Currently, the track holds two races in the spring (as companion to Rebel 400) n ...
at Darlington, his first Xfinity start at the track since 1999, driving a No. 8 designed after his father's 1975 Cup car. After starting 15th, he finished fifth; he had originally finished sixth but was promoted one position following
Denny Hamlin's disqualification.
In 2020, Earnhardt shared the No. 8 with
Daniel Hemric and
Jeb Burton. At the
2020 Daytona 500
The 2020 Daytona 500, the 62nd running of the Daytona 500, event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 16–17, 2020. It was contested over 209 laps—extended from 200 laps due to an green-white-checker finish, overtime finish, on the a ...
, Earnhardt Jr. was named the Honorary Starter and waved the
green flag to officially begin the race. It was soon announced Earnhardt would compete in the
Hooters 250
Stock car racing events in the NASCAR Xfinity Series has been held at the Homestead–Miami Speedway since the track's inauguration in 1995. For much of its history, it was the final race of the second-tier series' season. The event is currently ...
at
Homestead-Miami Speedway that year. Earnhardt finished 5th.
It was announced on September 10, 2021, that he would be running in the
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
version of the
Go Bowling 250
The Go Bowling 250 was a NASCAR Xfinity Series stock car racing, stock car race that took place at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, Virginia in the month of September. It is held the night before the NASCAR Cup Series race, the F ...
, with his paint scheme honoring the ones who lost their lives in the
9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
attacks exactly 20 years ago to the day.
On April 8, 2022, Earnhardt made his Xfinity series start at Martinsville and would ultimately finish 11th after starting 30th. He drove the No. 88 in the race for the first time since 2018.
Earnhardt announced on November 1, 2022, that he would expand his Xfinity schedule from one race to two in 2023, Having Bass Pro Shops sponsor him for one race and Hellman's Mayonnaise sponsoring the other one.
Other racing
On top of his 26 career NASCAR Cup regular season victories, Earnhardt has also won nine exhibition races. He won the 2003, 2004, 2008, 2015, and 2016 Budweiser Duels, the
2000 The Winston
The 2000 edition of The Winston was held on May 20, 2000, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. This was the 16th running of the event. The race is remembered for Dale Earnhardt Jr. becoming the first rookie to win The Winston. Driv ...
, the 2003 and 2008 Budweiser Shootout and the 2012 Sprint Showdown. He finished second in the 1999 IROC race from Michigan International Speedway, barely losing to his father. In 1998, he was one of a select few of drivers invited to race in the NASCAR Thunder/Motegi 500 in Motegi, Japan. He achieved a sixth-place finish in this overseas race.
On April 20, 2022, Earnhardt won on his debut in the
iRacing
''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tr ...
MOONCAR series, racing vintage 1987 Winston Cup stock cars at Talladega in dramatic fashion, flipping across the start/finish line. On September 1, he finished third at the CARS Tour Window World 125 at
North Wilkesboro. On November 20, Earnhardt finished ninth at the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway.
Team ownership
JR Motorsports
Earnhardt is a co-owner of JR Motorsports with his older sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, a NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series team. In 2014, the team won their first NASCAR national championship, as
Chase Elliott drove the No. 9
NAPA Auto Parts
The National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA), also known as NAPA Auto Parts, founded in 1925, is an American retailers' cooperative distributing automotive replacement parts, accessories and service items throughout North America.
Operat ...
car to the
2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series
The 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 33rd season of the Nationwide Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by the NASCAR in the United States. It began with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 22, and ende ...
championship. In 2015, JR Motorsports began fielding a part-time team in the Truck Series, with
Cole Custer
Cole Matthew Custer (born January 23, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 00 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. He previously drove for the team full-tim ...
driving the No. 00
Haas Automation Chevrolet Silverado in 10 races. Kasey Kahne also drove part-time in the Truck Series, with the two drivers winning at
Gateway Motorsports Park
World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park) is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a ...
and Charlotte, respectively. JR Motorsports also has a very successful regional late model program, with
Josh Berry
Joshua W. Berry (born October 22, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. Berry has also competed for JRM in late model ...
capturing the 2012 Motor Mile Championship in the Whelen All-American series. Berry was also able to win a second track championship at
Hickory Motor Speedway.
Chance 2 Motorsports
In 2003, Earnhardt and his stepmother Teresa founded Chance 2 Motorsports as a separate entity from DEI. The company hired
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...
to drive the No. 8 in the 2004 and 2005 Busch Series season, and he would go on to win the championship both years. Truex won twelve races for the team and Earnhardt added four more, three of which were in 2003. The company would later endure financial struggles and go out of business in 2006 and Truex, Earnhardt, and the No. 8 car returned to DEI.
Broadcasting career
In 2016, Earnhardt was a guest analyst in NASCAR Cup and Xfinity race broadcasts on Fox and NBC.
Earnhardt joined the ''
NASCAR on NBC'' broadcasting team as a color commentator for the 2018 season. He made his debut on
NBCSN
NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...
's ''
NASCAR America
''NASCAR America'' is Peacock's biweekly NASCAR news program, broadcast Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. ET. The show made its debut on February 24, 2014, the day after the 2014 Daytona 500.
History
Starting in 2015, the show was host ...
'' on March 12, 2018, joining
Leigh Diffey
Leigh Diffey (born 3 March 1971) is an Australian American auto racing commentator. His career began calling motorcycle races in his home country before moving to the United Kingdom to cover other forms of motorsport. Diffey then moved to the ...
,
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
, and his former crew chief
Steve Letarte. In his debut at the
2018 Overton's 400
The 2018 Overton's 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on July 1, 2018 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Contested over 267 laps on the intermediate speedway, it was the 17th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NA ...
at
Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...
, he coined his catchphrase: "Slide job!" when
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
and
Kyle Larson
Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ ...
battled for the lead on the final lap.
Business interests
Earnhardt owns Hammerhead Entertainment, a media production company that created and produced the TV show ''
Back in the Day'', which aired on
SPEED
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...
. Hammerhead also produced "Shifting Gears", a show on
ESPN2 that chronicled his 2008 team switch.
He was partners with a group of investors who were building Alabama Motorsports Park, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. Speedway. The track was to be located near Mobile, Alabama and would feature stock car racing,
kart racing and a road course. This would have joined with his partial ownership of
Paducah International Raceway.
![Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Tallahassee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Dale_Earnhardt_Jr_Chevrolet_Tallahassee.jpg)
, Earnhardt has his own signature line of eyeglass frames, partnering with NY Eye Inc. In August 2012, he entered the automobile dealer business, opening Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Buick-GMC-Cadillac in
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...
in association with car owner
Rick Hendrick.
Earnhardt co-owns the Whiskey River Beer and Wings restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina, and at the Charlotte Airport.
Earnhardt is also the co-owner of FilterTime, alongside former NASCAR driver
Blake Koch
Blake Koch (born August 7, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and businessman. He last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. He is also the founder of FilterTime, a res ...
.
Earnhardt has been a long time sim racer. In November 2020, he officially joined iRacing as an executive director and is part of the management committee.
In popular media
Films
He was featured in the video
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
: Celebrity Photographers (2003) where he photographed
The Dahm Triplets. He appeared in the 2006 film ''
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.'' In the movie, he is seen asking Ricky Bobby (
Will Ferrell) for his autograph, and tells Ricky "don't tell any of the other drivers." There is also a deleted scene on the DVD where he calls Ricky a "dirty liar" and asks him for money he owed him. The No. 8 car also appeared in ''
Herbie: Fully Loaded'' in the final race where Herbie overtook him. His No. 88 car also appeared in the 2011 film ''
Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' as the vehicle form of Roadbuster, one of a trio of NASCAR stock cars equipped with armor and heavy machine guns called the "Wreckers" (the other Wreckers were based on the No. 42 and No. 48 cars driven respectively by
Juan Pablo Montoya and
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
). The Wrecker versions of these cars circled the track during the opening pace laps of the
2011 Daytona 500
The 2011 Daytona 500, the 53rd running of the event, was held on February 20, 2011 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Trevor Bayne, driving for Wood Bro ...
(
Josh Duhamel,
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...
were also the grand marshals for that race, in which Earnhardt crashed on lap 203 after making contact with
Ryan Newman).
Television
He hosted ''Back in the Day'', a show that recapped races from the 1960s and 1970s with trivia and information. The show debuted on the
Speed Channel
Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...
on February 6, 2007. He has also appeared in an episode of the TV show ''
Yes, Dear''. He has also been on two episodes of ''
MTV Cribs
''MTV Cribs'' (also known as ''Cribs'') is an American documentary television show that originated on MTV and features tours of the private homes of celebrities. It originally aired from 2000 to 2010. In 2017, MTV produced short-form episodes o ...
''. The first episode originally aired in 2001. The second episode featuring the Western town Earnhardt built originally aired in 2009. His production company Hammerhead Entertainment also assisted in creating a
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
special called "Fast Lane For Fun", in which Earnhardt's Whisky River was shown in one episode. In 2010, he appeared in an episode of ''
Shaq Vs.
''Shaq Vs.'' is an American reality television show produced for ABC by Dick Clark Productions and Media Rights Capital starring American basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. It began airing on August 18, 2009.
Shaquille O'Neal claims to be "the gre ...
'', where he was racing against
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...
. In 2013 Earnhardt made an appearance on the show ''
Fast N' Loud
''Fast N' Loud'' was a reality-styled Discovery Channel TV show featuring Richard Rawlings and his crew from the Dallas, Texas-based Gas Monkey Garage as they search for tired and run-down cars, and restore them for profit.
The show was success ...
'' where he requested
Richard Rawlings
Richard Rawlings (born March 30, 1969) is an American entrepreneur and media personality. He is the star of the reality television show ''Fast N' Loud'' on Discovery Channel. He is also a proprietor of the Gas Monkey Garage as well as both the ...
from Gas Monkey Garage to build him a custom-built car for a road trip vacation. He has a home renovation show for the
DIY Network called "Renovation Realities: Dale Jr. and Amy". He later voiced Chip Racerson Jr. in one episode of the 2013 animated series ''
Teen Titans Go!
''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013 and is based on the DC Comics Teen Titans, fictional superhero team. The series was ...
'' called "Teen Titans Vroom!" In 2020, Earnhardt hosted ''
Lost Speedways
''Lost Speedways'' is a television documentary series produced by Peacock. The series is hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team own ...
'', a television documentary series that saw him travel to and explore abandoned racetracks across the country.
Voice acting
* His voice is featured in the
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
''
Scarface: The World is Yours''.
* He voiced himself in
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
/
Pixar's movie ''
Cars'' as a No. 8 car (painted in resemblance to Earnhardt's actual car) named "Junior" with the DEI logo on the hood. The Budweiser logos were censored from the No. 8 to prevent alcoholic advertising to gain a "G" (General) rating.
* His voice was used for the character Chase Davis in an episode of the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
's ''
Handy Manny
''Handy Manny'' is a CGI-animated children's television series that premiered with its first two episodes consecutively on Saturday, September 16, 2006, originally as part of Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney block. On Valentine's Day 2011, the ...
''. Chase helps Manny compete in the Wood Valley 500 auto race in "Handy Manny's Big Race".
* He played himself in "
The Hangover: Part Tubbs", a 2013 episode of ''
The Cleveland Show
''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs, a ...
''.
Music
Until its rebranding in 2015, the band
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
JR JR (pronounced "junior junior"; originally named Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.) is an American indie-pop band from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein. The band also includes drummer Mike Higgins.
History
Zott and Epst ...
was named after Earnhardt. Earnhardt is a noted fan of
Ellicott City, Maryland
Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, making it the mo ...
rock band
The Dangerous Summer
''The Dangerous Summer'' is a nonfiction book by Ernest Hemingway published posthumously in 1985 and written in 1959 and 1960. The book describes the rivalry between bullfighters Luis Miguel Dominguín and his brother-in-law, Antonio Ordóñez, ...
and produced the
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for the band's song "Ghosts".
Music video appearances
He has made appearances in several music videos, including:
* "
Show Me What You Got
"Show Me What You Got" is the lead single by rap artist Jay-Z from his album '' Kingdom Come''.
Song information
It is the first single from his "comeback" album '' Kingdom Come''. It was produced by Just Blaze.
The song samples " Show 'Em ...
" with
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
along with
Danica Patrick
Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...
.
*
Matthew Good Band's video for Anti-Pop, as he is friends with band frontman,
Matthew Good
Matthew Frederick Robert Good (born June 29, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the Matthew Good Band, one of the most successful alternative rock bands in Canada during the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the ...
.
*
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...
's "
Steve McQueen
Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...
" music video
*
Trace Adkins
Trace may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995
* ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993
* Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band
* ''The Trace'' (album)
Other uses in arts and entertainment
* ''Trace'' ...
video entitled "Rough and Ready".
*
3 Doors Down's "
The Road I'm On" along with
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...
.
*
O.A.R.
O.A.R. (short for Of A Revolution) is an American rock band, founded in 1996 in Rockville, Maryland. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, bassist Benj Gershman, saxophonist/guitar ...
's "Right on Time".
*
Nickelback's "
Rockstar
Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to:
Films
* ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg
* ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali
* ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...
".
* "Warrior" by
Kid Rock
Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...
.
Radio
Earnhardt hosted a show on
Sirius XM Radio's
Sirius XM Sports Nation called ''Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Unrestricted''.
Beginning the 2013 season, Earnhardt's Hammerhead Entertainment and his Dirty Mo Radio podcasting network began producing ''
The Dale Jr. Download'', a weekly podcast which recaps his race weekend. It was hosted by Taylor Zarzour and Mike Davis up until the end of the 2016 season. For the 2017 season Dale Jr and his road manager, Tyler Overstreet replaced Davis and Zarzour as the hosts of ''The Dale Jr. Download''. However, Davis continued to make an occasional appearance on the podcast. Since 2018, edited versions of ''The Dale Jr. Download'' have aired on
NBCSN
NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...
featuring interviews with current and former NASCAR personalities.
Video games
Earnhardt has been featured on the cover of NASCAR-themed video games twice; he appeared on the cover of
EA Sports' ''
NASCAR Thunder 2003
''NASCAR Thunder 2003'' is the sixth edition of the EA Sports' NASCAR racing simulator series. Developed by EA Sports and Budcat Creations and published by Electronic Arts, it was released for PlayStation, Xbox and GameCube on September 19, ...
'', and also was voted to be on the cover of ''
NASCAR The Game: Inside Line'' in 2012.
Earnhardt is also a streamer for iRacing.com on Twitch.tv
Politics
In a 2004 interview with
Mike Wallace
Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...
(not fellow competitor) on ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'', Earnhardt revealed himself to be a
Republican and a supporter of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
.
Despite this, he took his crew out to see the film ''
Fahrenheit 9/11
''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed, written by, and starring filmmaker, director, political commentator and activist Michael Moore. The film takes a liberal, critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the w ...
'' earlier that year, explaining, "I like hearing both sides of the argument. I thought the movie was well done. But my dad was a Republican, and I'm a Republican, and so
t'snot that I came out of there going, 'I ain't voting for Bush again.' That didn't happen, and I didn't expect that to happen. I just wanted to go and enjoy the movie."
Earnhardt is a longtime opponent of the
modern display of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events.
He wrote in his 2001 autobiography ''Driver #8'' about his experience being asked about the flag in a Q&A at Richmond International Raceway (now
Richmond Raceway) the
previous year.
"I think it means something different to me than it does to y'all..." he responded.
He has distanced himself from race fans who display the flag, explaining, "It never really was me."
In 2006, Earnhardt told
Dan Wetzel
Dan Wetzel is an author, screenwriter, documentary film producer, podcaster, and national columnist for Yahoo Sports and Yahoo.com.
Career
As a sports writer, he has worked as the national columnist for Yahoo Sports and Yahoo.com, covering events ...
of
Yahoo! Sports
Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. Bef ...
: "We live in a country where you can speak freely and do as you may. I don't know (if) what that flag stands for is the same for me as it is the guy who might have it flying out there. I am not going to agree with everything everybody does all my life. So I don't have any control over it." Following the
Charleston church shooting
On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...
in 2015, Earnhardt told reporters: "I think it's offensive to an entire race. It does nothing for anybody to be there flying, so I don't see any reason. It belongs in the history books and that's about it."
In January 2009, Earnhardt expressed enthusiasm following
President Barack Obama's inauguration: "I'm as excited as everybody else is about him. I wish I had been able to go to the inauguration. I would love to meet him. That would be a great honor."
In April 2012, Earnhardt became a partner of the
American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE, formerly ABEC or Americans for Balanced Energy Choices) is a U.S. non-profit advocacy group representing major American coal producers, utility companies and railroads. The organization se ...
. He addressed delegates to the
2012 Democratic National Convention
The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 3–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice Presid ...
at Charlotte Motor Speedway on behalf of the coalition. In 2014, Earnhardt recorded an advertisement for America's Power, encouraging
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
for the
U.S. elections that year.
In May 2012, Earnhardt singled out Republican
Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
*Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
*House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
*Legislator, someon ...
Jack Kingston of
Georgia while speaking against an amendment to a defense bill that would prohibit the military from funding sponsorships in professional sports.
In January 2017, Earnhardt revealed that his family immigrated from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in the 1770s to escape
religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
, saying "America is created by immigrants." In August, he spoke out against hatred, bigotry and racism following the attacks in
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...
and
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. In September, after
protests of the U.S. national anthem gained traction following criticism from President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, Earnhardt expressed support for peaceful protesters, quoting former president
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
Personal life
![DaleEarnhardtJr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/DaleEarnhardtJr.Family2018%28cropped%29.jpg)
Earnhardt is a passionate
Washington Commanders fan and has been known to have their scores relayed to him during races.
"During the race season,
fI'm under caution, I'm getting stats and numbers told to me over the radio during the race," Earnhardt said. "I've got to know. I can't concentrate on what I'm doing if I don't know what the Redskins are doing. My fans tell me if I lose, it ruins their week. But if the Redskins lose, it ruins my week." Earnhardt once dreamed of playing football for the Commanders, but states that he "wasn't built" for it. "I was 5–3 (5'3", 160 cm) when I got my driver's license at the age of 16," he said, "so I wasn't going to make much of a football player."
He currently owns a
Learjet 60 private jet with the tail number N8JR.
Earnhardt also owns a yard of wrecked race cars on a property in North Carolina. Some of the most notable cars include
Juan Pablo Montoya's
2012 Daytona 500
The 2012 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The 54th iteration of the event, it was held between February 27 and 28, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, before a ...
car that collided with a jet dryer,
David Gilliland
David Leonard Gilliland (born April 1, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. Since 2017, he has operated David Gilliland Racing, a team that races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, ...
's
2014 5-hour Energy 400
The 2014 5-hour Energy 400 Benefiting Special Operations Warrior Foundation was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on May 10, 2014, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 267 laps on the tri-oval, it was th ...
car that was destroyed in a violent impact with the tri-oval wall, and Earnhardt's own
2014 Duck Commander 500
The 2014 Duck Commander 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on April 7, 2014, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 340 laps – extended from 334 laps, due to a green–white–checker finish ...
car that was wrecked from incidental contact with wet infield grass on lap 12 that cut a tire.
On June 17, 2015, Earnhardt announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend Amy Reimann. After winning his 14th Most Popular Driver Award in 2016, he announced their marriage would take place on New Year's Eve. They got married at
Richard Childress
Richard Childress (born September 21, 1945 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American former race car driver in NASCAR. As the owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR), he became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina. In 2004, he opene ...
'
Childress Vineyards
Childress Vineyards is a winery in Lexington, North Carolina owned by NASCAR Cup Series championship team owner Richard Childress. The connection between NASCAR and fine wine is reflected in the labeling of some of the wines produced by Childres ...
in
Lexington, North Carolina
Lexington is the county seat of Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 18,931. It is located in central North Carolina, south of Winston-Salem. Major highways include I-85, I-85B, U ...
.
In March 2016, Earnhardt announced that he plans to donate his brain for concussion research when he dies.
In October 2017, Earnhardt revealed that he and Amy were expecting their first child. Their daughter, Isla Rose Earnhardt, was born on April 30, 2018. In March 2020, Earnhardt revealed that he and Amy were expecting their second child. The couple welcomed Nicole Loraine Earnhardt on October 12, 2020.
On April 22, 2019, Brenda Jackson, Earnhardt's mother, died at the age of 65 after years of battling cancer. She had served as an accounting specialist for JR Motorsports since 2004.
Earnhardt is a supporter of the
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old.
Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headqua ...
and has granted over 250 wishes.
On August 15, 2019, a
Cessna Citation Latitude private jet carrying Earnhardt, his wife Amy, daughter Isla Rose, and dog Gus was involved in a
bounced landing at
Elizabethton Municipal Airport
Elizabethton Municipal Airport is three miles east of Elizabethton, in Carter County, Tennessee. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation airport.
Facilities
The airport covers 96 ...
in
Elizabethton, Tennessee and caught fire. None of the passengers were seriously injured. He announced on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
about a week after the accident that he still intended to participate in the Xfinity Series one-off entry at
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
the week afterwards, even though his lower back had gotten sizeable bruises and swelling. Earnhardt finished fifth in the Darlington race after having sufficiently recovered to be taking part in the event, confirming before the race he was feeling great and had been assured there was no risk for him in taking part.
Racing record
NASCAR
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)
Cup Series
=Daytona 500
=
Xfinity Series
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
International Race of Champions
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (
Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
24 Hours of Daytona
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
References
External links
*
*
*
JR Nation*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earnhardt, Dale Jr.
1974 births
Living people
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
American Le Mans Series drivers
American people of German descent
Dale Earnhardt Inc. drivers
Dale Jr.
Hendrick Motorsports drivers
International Race of Champions drivers
JR Motorsports drivers
Motorsport announcers
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
NASCAR Xfinity Series champions
North Carolina Republicans
Oak Ridge Military Academy alumni
People from Kannapolis, North Carolina
Philanthropists from North Carolina
Racing drivers from North Carolina
Richard Childress Racing drivers
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees