Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

At barely 32 years of age, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. became one of the youngest and more celebrated drivers in the NASCAR Busch Series Championships. In his case, however, racing seems to be somewhat of a family tradition, being the son of another NASCAR legend: the great, late Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Born on October 10, 1974 in Kannapolis, North Carolina, Earnhardt has successfully competed in several racing classes and events over the course of his career, earning along the way a plethora of nicknames, including “The Dominator”, “Little E”, “Junior”, and “Junebug”, among others.

“Junior” Earnhardt started his professional driving career in 1991 at the age of 17 competing in the Street Stock division at Concord Motorsport. Within two seasons, the driving abilities he had displayed earned “Junior” a spot in the Late Model Stock Car division. The next few seasons would find him racing oftentimes against his half-brother Kerry while developing an in-depth knowledge of chassis setup and car preparation. This insight served “Junior” well, ultimately helping him to win the NASCAR Busch Series championship two years in a row for the 1998 and 1999 seasons, driving the #3 Chevrolet.

Although this double win is commonly accepted as the pinnacle of his career, “Junior” would earn an even greater honor in 2000 during the Winston Cup, by competing with his father and half-brother Kerry in the Pepsi 400 at the Michigan International Speedway, only the second time in the history of this event that such an occurrence happened. This special moment in his career became all the more emotive considering that just a year later Dale Earnhardt, Sr. would die while racing at the Daytona 500. The following seasons would prove to be quite bumpy, after suffering an injury at Fontana in 2002. In 2003, he won the NMPA Most Popular Driver award for the first time in his career. His latest exploit was his victory at the 2006 Daytona Crown Rayal 400, and “Junior” Earnhardt currently holds a record of 17 wins, 104 top-tens and 6 poles.