Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - NASCAR Driver

Date of Birth: 1974-10-10 Place of Birth: Kannapolis, NC Favorite Track: Talladega Superspeedway Current Residence:  Mooresville, NC Sponsor: Budweiser Owner: Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Crew Chief: Tony Eury Jr. Car: #8 Chevrolet

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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - Bio

With things shaking up at Dale Earnhardt Inc., it's hard to say what the future holds for NASCAR's most popular driver.  Over the last several weeks, both Dale Earnhardt Jr and Teresa Earnhardt have made public statements about Junior's role in the company.

During the verbal jousting that's taken place over the last several weeks, Dale Jr has started to speak his mind.  In the often sterile world of NASCAR interviews, drivers are coached not to say anything remotely controversial in fear of upsetting fans or sponsors.  However, Dale Jr is not backing off, and he is starting to show the true Earnhardt attitude that endeared generations of fans to his father.

I'm sure all of those fans would dream of the day when Dale Earhard Jr could race for Richard Childress Racing, driving a car sponosed by Goodwrench & Budweiser, with none other but the #3 on the side of the car!

Let's rewind just a bit.  Before he was the face of NASCAR's new generation, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was very proud of his skills as an oil changer at his father's car dealership in North Carolina. "If I wasn't racing, I'd be working at my dad's Chevrolet dealership," said Earnhardt Jr. "It was only a couple of years ago that I was the fastest oil-change man in the place."

His career began meekly, as he and brother Kerry sold a go-kart for $500 so that they could by an old Monte Carlo racecar for $200. Legend has it that Junior later sold that car to current Busch Series driver Hank Parker Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. took his first green flag at the Concord Speedway in the street stock division at the age of 17. He garnered three feature victories from 1994-96. Just two years later, Earnhardt Jr. dominated the Busch Series, winning 13 races and two series championships in 1998-99. His first title in 1998 made him the first third-generation NASCAR champion, joining father Dale Sr. and grandfather Ralph. His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee, was a well-known NASCAR fabricator and mechanic.

Junior wasted no time making an impact in NASCAR's elite series when he entered in 2000. He won at Texas in his 12th career start and at Richmond in his 16th start. He also became the first rookie to win NASCAR's all-star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

It also didn't take long for Junior to become the unofficial poster boy of the sport. He's appeared on countless magazine covers, numerous television talk shows and was the focus of two MTV documentaries: “Cribs” and “True Life, I’m a Race Car Driver.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - Statistics