Dale Earnhardt's Life And Accomplishments

How would you feel if you were judged only by your father’s accomplishments? This was once the case for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., son of legendary stock car driver Dale Earnhardt. When Dale, Jr. had debuted in NASCAR as a third-generation driver, many people thought that he was getting special treatment because of his father. However, after the death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Junior began to make a name for himself. He had been interested in racing since he was a child and would one day become a spiritual successor to his father, the reigning icon of the sport.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Jr., known as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., was born in North Carolina on October 10, 1974. He is the son of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and his second wife Brenda. Dale, along with his …show more content…
drive and offered him a car to race in the Late Model Stock division (Hillstrom 22).During his three years in the Late Model Stock division, Dale earned the pole position twelve times and won three races (Hillstrom 24). Then, the racing team that his father owned, Dale Earnhardt Inc., decided it needed a new driver. They hired Junior to race in the Busch series; he won the championship in 1998 and 1999. After his first championship, he agreed to a sponsorship deal with Budweiser. In 2000, Jr. began racing in the Winston cup, NASCAR’s top series (“Dale Earnhardt, Jr.” 2). The same year, he became the first rookie driver to win the Winston All-Star Race (Hillstrom 35). On February 18th, 2001, disaster struck; during the final lap of the Daytona 500, Dale, Sr. crashed into the wall and was killed instantly. However, Michael Waltrip, a member of Dale Earnhardt Inc., won the race, and Jr. came in second. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a favorite among fans, and they were quick to adopt Dale, Jr. as their new favorite. In 2003, he won the Most Popular Driver award, a title he still holds today (Hillstrom 51). After the death of his father, Dale, Jr. became wildly popular and reached celebrity status. He has even hosted TV shows and has had cameos in popular movies such as Cars and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Hillstrom 63). At one time, Dale accounted for 30 to 40 percent of NASCAR merchandise sales and MSNBC said that he was …show more content…
However, he would finish the 2007 season under Dale Earnhardt Inc. When Dale, Jr. switched to Hendrick Motorsports, he changed his number to 88, one of his grandfather’s old numbers. He couldn’t use 8, another one of his grandfather’s old numbers, anymore because the rights were still owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc. (Hillstrom 78). Dale’s first race with Hendrick Motorsports was at Daytona in February of 2008. He won, though it was only an exhibition race (Hillstrom 84-85). His first official win for Hendrick Motorsports came on June 15, 2008 at the Michigan International Raceway (Hillstrom 85). After a good start in Hendrick Motorsports, Dale, Jr. improved in 2011. He finished the season with three top three finishes, four top five finishes, and twelve top tens (“Dale Earnhardt, Jr.” 5). After winning two races in 2012, Earnhardt suffered a concussion due to a crash at Talladega late in the season. In 2013, Dale had ten top five finishes and a personal record of twenty-two top ten finishes; he finished fifth in the points standings. The same year, he won his eleventh consecutive Driver of the Year award, breaking the former record of ten set by Bill Elliott (“Dale Earnhardt, Jr.” 5). Dale, Jr. had finally made a name for himself and had become as popular as his father had been. What he lacked in skill, he had more than made up for in