Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
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| Born: | October 10,1974 | ||
| Kannapolis, North Carolina | |||
| Car #-Team | #88 - Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| 2008 Pts Finish | 24th | ||
| Best Pts Finish | 3rd (2003) | ||
| Last Win: | 2008 LifeLock 400 | ||
| First Race | 1999 Coca-Cola 600 | ||
| First Win | 2000 DirecTV 500 | ||
| Awards: | NASCAR's Most Popular Driver (2003-2008) | ||
Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (born October 10, 1974), is a driver of the #88 AMP Energy Drink/National Guard Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. He is the son of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. During his career, Earnhardt, Jr. has competed successfully in a number of racing classes and events, is a two-time Nationwide Series champion (one of 6 people to win back-to-back championships), and was the winner of the 2004 Daytona 500. Earnhardt, Jr. is also the owner of JR Motorsports, and former co-owner (with stepmother Teresa Earnhardt) of Chance 2 Motorsports.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
Earnhardt, Jr. was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina to Brenda Lorraine Gee and Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee, was a NASCAR car builder.[1] He began his professional driving career at the age of 17, competing in the Street Stock division at Concord (N.C.) Motorsport Park. His first race car was a 1979 Monte Carlo that he co-owned with older half-brother Kerry. Within two seasons, the young Earnhardt, Jr. had honed his driving abilities to the point of joining the Late Model Stock Car division. There, he developed an in-depth knowledge of chassis setup and car preparation, while racing against Kerry and Dale's sister Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge. Junior ran 9 Busch Series races between 1996 and 1997 for Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ed Whitaker, respectively. Earnhardt, Jr. won consecutive NASCAR Busch Series Championships in 1998 and 1999 over Matt Kenseth.
[edit] 2000
Earnhardt, Jr. competed for the Raybestos NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award in 2000. His primary competitor for the award was Kenseth. Kenseth outran Junior in the season-opening Daytona 500. Earnhardt, Jr. scored wins at the Texas Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway. He also become the first rookie to win the All-Star exhibition race. Kenseth ultimately scored a 42-point victory in the rookie race.
Dale Jr. did have a part in recreating one Winston Cup milestone in 2000 when he competed with his father and half-brother Kerry in the Pepsi 400. That occasion was only the second time that a father had raced against two sons. Lee, Richard and Maurice Petty had previously accomplished the feat.
Dale Jr. also wrote a novel based on his rookie season titled "DRIVER #8".
[edit] 2001
In 2001 Earnhardt, Jr. came into the season hoping to avoid a sophomore slump, but the year proved to be one of the most tumultuous and memorable seasons the young driver would experience.
The major event of the season occurred in the final corner of the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. As Earnhardt, Jr. finished second, to his teammate Michael Waltrip. His father had crashed in turn four, due to contact with Sterling Marlin, who was in fourth spot at the time. Dale Earnhardt Sr. did not survive the wreck. He was pronounced dead at 8:35 p.m. that Sunday. Junior raced at Rockingham the following weekend, but finished in 43rd-place after a wreck that looked fairly similar to his father's wreck just one week earlier. Earnhardt, Jr. rebounded and scored victories at Dover and Talladega, as well as an emotional win in the return to Daytona, finishing eighth in points for the year.
The Talladega victory earned Junior a Winston No Bull 5 $1 million bonus. This season of emotion produced nine top-fives and 15 top-10 finishes, as well as two Bud Poles.
[edit] 2002-2003
In 2002, Junior had a roller-coaster season. He struggled after enduring a concussion at Fontana in April — an injury he did not admit to until mid-September. In the three races following Fontana, Earnhardt, Jr. finished no better than 30th. Still, Junior rallied to score two more wins at Talladega, a pair of Bud Pole Awards and an 11th-place finish in the standings.
2003 saw Earnhardt, Jr. become a true title contender. He scored a record-breaking 4th consecutive win at Talladega, but people were beginning to say that Earnhardt, Jr. could only win on the restrictor plate tracks, as his last win on a non-plate track had come at Dover in 2001. He put that talk to rest as he scored a victory at Phoenix in October, recording a career best 3rd place effort in the standings. He would also take home the NMPA Most Popular Driver award for the first time in his career.
[edit] 2004-2006
In 2004, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the Daytona 500, six years to the day after his father won his only title in the "Great American Race." On July 18, during on off-weekend from NASCAR, Dale Jr. crashed a Corvette C5-R during a practice for the American Le Mans Series 2004 Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. The car slid off course after getting spun out by Mike Rockenfeller in the # 23 Alex job car 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 Earnhardt, Jr. 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 replaced by Martin Truex Jr. and his DEI teammate John Andretti in the middle of the races. In the fall, Junior became the first driver to sweep a weekend at Bristol by winning both the Busch race and Cup race in the same weekend.
He was able to qualify for the NASCAR ten-race playoff, and had his fifth 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 NASCAR rule prohibiting participants from using obscene language. That incident, combined with two consecutive DNF's in the playoffs, 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 Phoenix. 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 the DEI #15 driven by Michael Waltrip for the 2005 season. Peter Rondeau, a Chance 2 employee who also helped Earnhardt, Jr. win the Busch Series race at Bristol in August, became the crew chief for Earnhardt, Jr. 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 Jr. score his lone win of 2005 at Chicagoland in July. Earnhardt, Jr. was eliminated from any possible competition for the NEXTEL Cup championship after suffering an engine failure at the California Speedway. Earnhardt, Jr. was reunited with cousin Tony Eury, Jr. after the fall Richmond weekend, and results improved immediately. For the 3rd straight year, Earnhardt, Jr. took home the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award.
Meanwhile, Earnhardt's proficiency as a car owner continued. His race team outside of DEI, JR Motorsports, 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 #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. 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, Junior and other DEI drivers drove with special black paint schemes on their cars, intended to be reminiscent of his late father's famous #3 paint scheme. On Father's Day 2006, Dale Jr. drove a vintage Budweiser car at Michigan International Speedway to honor both his grandfather (Ralph Earnhardt) and father, who at one point in both their careers used the number 8 car. After rain caused the race to be ended early, Dale Jr. finished 3rd with Kasey Kahne winning the race. After 17 races in the 2006 season, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sat 3rd in the championship standings with one win, coming at Richmond in May 2006.
During the race at New Hampshire, Junior 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 Junior 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, Junior and his crew made a critical decision to stay out on the final pit stop to get a much needed top-ten finish to move him up to tenth in the points.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made the 2006 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup after finishing 17th in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 9, 2006. His points position going into the Chase was 6th. Earnhardt, Jr. finished the season 5th in the point standings, 147 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
[edit] 2007
Earnhardt, Jr. began the 2007 NEXTEL Cup season by finishing 32nd at the Daytona 500. His first top ten came at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500 when 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. Jr. collected his third top 10 of the season and his 8th at 'Dega with his 7th place performance in the 2007 Aaron's 499. On May 14th Earnhardt, Jr. was docked 100 championship points and his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. was fined $100,000 and suspended for 6 races due to an improper mounting of the wing on his car.
On May 27, 2007, Dale Jr. rode a camoflauge #8 car in the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day to raise money for the families of military troops. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Ward Burton, Denny Hamlin, Casey Mears, Shane Huffman and Jon Wood also changed their paint schemes for the occasion. [2] Earnhardt, Jr. finished eight, after leading with seven laps to go, but Casey Mears finished with the win. [3]
[edit] 2007 DEI Departure
After much speculation, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. announced on May 10, 2007, that he will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his father, to drive for another team in 2008. It was announced that his primary sponsor, Budweiser, will not follow him to his next team.
On June 13, 2007 he announced at a press conference that he would race for Hendrick Motorsports, taking Kyle Busch's spot and signing a five year contract. Busch will leave for the Hendrick organization at the end of the 2007 NEXTEL Cup season. The number and primary sponsor had not yet been determined at the time of the press conference.
[edit] 2008
For the 2008 season, Earnhardt Jr. drives the #88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He is currently 5th in points after Bristol, and has finished in the top 10 in four out of five races.
[edit] Teams
| Year(s) | Car # | Sponsor | Make | Team/Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-present | 88 | AMP Energy Drink/National Guard | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 1999-2007 | 8 | Budweiser | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt Inc. |
| Earnhardt Family |
|---|
| Dale Earnhardt | Dale Earnhardt, Jr | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Kerry Earnhardt | Ralph Earnhardt |
