Dale Earnhardt Jr. was born on October 10th 1974. He is the son of the late Nascar legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. He came into racing in the year 2000 and quickly became popular due to his father. After his father had died in the Daytona 500, the fans looked to him as they needed a new hero. Dale Earnhardt Jr. very quickly began to win races and managed to keep his fathers name alive. His winning the 2001 Pepsi 400 gave the fans much emotional content because the year before his father had died there. Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated the Talladega Superspeedway event by winning five races there – out of which four were won consecutively. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a fan favorite at the Talladega and he is the holder of the most popular driver award which he has won several times consecutively.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started the 2008 season by bagging the 2008 Budweiser Shootout which was also his first race for Hendricks.
He led 47 laps out of the total 70 – which in itself is a Budweiser Shootout record. That was followed up with a win in Gatorade Duel – his third win in this event.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started 15th in the Auto Club 500 because there was no qualifying round on account of rains and the line up was determined based on owner points from last year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished an eventful race at 40th place.
His position was improved by four top 5s and top 10s and he moved from the 23d position to the 4th. Even tough he had won the pole for the Samsung 500 at Texas, he finished down at the 12th position.
Later, his long win-less streak came to an end finally at Michigan when he stretched his fuel mileage across the green-white-checkered flag.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. currently stands at the 9th position with 26 starts, 1 win, 9 top 5s, 14 top 10s and 1 pole – so far this season he has earned himself $3,755,670. Previous years standings look like this: 2007, 16th position. 2006, 5th position, 2005, 19th position, 2004, 5th position, 2003, 3rd position, 2002, 11th position.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has expressed his desire to be his own man and earn the respect of his fans for who he is and not because he is Dale Earnhardt Sr’s son. When he announced that he would be joining Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) in 2008, which sent ripples through the Nascar fandom. Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems happier than ever and that is reflected in the fact that he has had solid finishes that have kept him in the top 12.
Recent reports suggest that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was negotiating with HMS to have Tony Eury Jr. as his crew chief in 2008. Earnhardt was quoted as saying Tony Gibson had done a great job but regarding Eury Jr., “I need him.” But that hasn’t worked out well for Dale Earnhardt Jr. as even after finishing 2nd at Pocono he fell to 12th in points Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs to keep his cool and make the right decisions and stick with the right people – including having a crew chief that clicks with him.
