Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale possessed some of his father's skills

Dale Earnhardt Sr. once thought his namesake never listened to him. But by the time Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it to the Winston Cup level, it was obvious that he'd been paying attention all along. In his first three seasons as a Winston Cup driver, he showed that he possessed some of his father's skills, especially when it came to racing at Daytona and Talladega, two of the sport's biggest tracks.

Born in Kannapolis, North Carolina

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was born in 1974 in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Earhardt is a professional race car driver and is also known as "Little E" or "Junebug". Earnhardt is the son of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. During his career, Earnhardt Jr. has competed successfully in a number of racing classes and events. As of 2006, his primary role is driver of the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in NASCAR's NEXTEL Cup. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is also a racing team owner through his company, JR Motorsports.

Race style all his own

Though Earnhardt Jr. bears his father's name, he has a style all his own. Earnhardt Jr. is perhaps the closest thing that stockcar racing has to a rock star, right down to his trademark baggy attire and the baseball cap that he wears backward. He's even been a presenter at the MTV Movie Awards and has been interviewed by Rolling Stone and Playboy magazines. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is computer literate, while the only computer his dad ever mastered was the one that gave him an unmatched, seat-of-the-pants feel while driving a racecar.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered the Nascar Busch Series

But both men signify two distinct phases in the sport they've mastered. The elder Dale Earnhardt's career started on the dirt tracks of the Carolinas. By the time of his death in 2001 at the Daytona 500, he had helped propel stockcar racing into the mainstream. His son entered Nascar's elite and became a star just as Winston Cup racing moved from cable television to the networks, and just as his father's generation of superstars was heading into its final years of competitive racing. With a name like Dale Earnhardt, it's hard for a driver to go unnoticed. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered the Nascar Busch Series in 1996 and eased into Winston Cup two years later.

Dale Earnhardt's signature

In 2000, his first full season at Cup level, Dale Earnhardt won two poles, two races, and The Winston All-Star race. The next year, emotional victories became Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s signature. From his dramatic finish in the Pepsi 400 in Daytona - just five months after his father's fatal crash there - to his next visits to victory lane at Dover and Talladega, Earnhardt has shown that he is capable of upholding his spirit.

Dale Earnhardt

Drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr. by David Poole
ISBN: 1572435518

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