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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. began his professional driving career at age 17, racing competitively in the street stock division. Dale Jr says, "I got started in racing by getting up $500 and buying a street car out of the junkyard, building it into a street stock car when I was 17 years old, my brother, Kerry, and I did that together."
Within two seasons, he progressed to NASCAR's Late Model Stock Division. He raced Late Model Stock Cars in South Carolina at both Florence Motor Speedway and Myrtle Beach Speedway in 1994, and also raced at tracks like Nashville Speedway USA, Hickory Motor Speedway and Tri-County Speedway in Hudson, N.C.
In three years competing in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series, he made 113 starts, grabbed 12 poles and won 3 races.
His best year came in 1996 when he made 53 starts, grabbed 8 poles and won 2 races while finishing second in the points at Florence. He also made his first career NASCAR Busch Series start at Myrtle Beach, where he qualified 7th and finished a respectable 14th.
1998
In 1998 Steve Park, the 1997 Raybestos "Rookie of the Year" in the NBS and former driver of the AC Delco Monte Carlo, moved up to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series after only one season, he now drives the #1 Pennzoil car owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc. The next driver to get behind the wheel of the No. 3 ACDelco Chevrolet was Dale Jr, all eyes were intently focused on the young driver.
Dale's first race in the car was the NAPA 300 at Daytona Int'l Speedway, it was a tough start in his first full season as a Busch driver. Running over the jack on pit road during the race was
| the least of his problems, he was involved in a wreck where the car completely over-turned in mid-air and landed back on it's wheels. He wasn't injured but it sure gave him and his father some anxious moments. |  |
On April 4th 1998, Dale Jr. won the Coca-Cola 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. This was his first win in the Busch series and in a rather nice coincidence, the win came in his 16th Busch race, just like his dad's first Winston Cup victory came in his 16th start.
As the '98 season progressed, Dale was gaining more experience and it was showing on the track. The ACDelco team won 6 more races, Dover, Milwaukee, California, Indianapolis, Richmond and St. Louis. The performance of Dale Jr and the ACDelco Team were turning heads, Budweiser, the "Official Beer of NASCAR," noticed the young driver and his potential, on Sept. 21, 1998, Budweiser announced it would sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr to drive for the brand on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series through 2004, this was indeed an exciting announcement.
When a person reflects on the 1998 season one should remember that Dale Jr only had 9 BGN starts prior to 1998, by the end of the '98 season the team had racked up 3 poles, 16 top fives, 22 top-tens and 7 wins, the ACDelco Team accomplished their goal or may have surpassed it.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. with the guidance of crew chief Tony Eury, Sr. became the first third-generation driver to win a NASCAR championship after starting the season-ending race at Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex. Although a blown engine on the 89th lap ended his day early, it didn't stop him from pulling on pit road, getting out of the car and putting his arms in the air, he acknowledge to the crowd that he and the #3 ACDelco Team were with out a doubt, the 1998 Busch Grand National Champions, the crowd responded with a loud cheer that could be heard over the revving engines. After the race, Earnhardt celebrated the title with an emotional lap around the track at Homestead with his father, the legendary Seven-Time NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, Dale Earnhardt.
1999
For the 1999 season Dale Earnhardt Jr had the pressure on, he would run 5
races on the W/Cup schedule with the #8 Budweiser sponsored car and make
numerous appearance, at the same time he was the defending Busch Grand
National Champion, his personal schedule was exciting but also exhausting.
The ACDelco Team knew that it was important to defend the title, nothing
less would be expected.
It wasn't until the 15th race of the season at Dover Downs Int'l Speedway
that Dale Jr captured his first win in 1999, this was the same track that
he won his 2nd BGN race in '98. Once the ACDelco Team tasted victory they
went on to win the next two races at South Boston Speedway and Watkins
Glen, Watkins Glen was a special race for Dale Jr., his transmission
wanted to jump out of gear but he was still able to pass one of North
America's premier road racers, Ron Fellows, for his third BGN win in a
row, something that only a few drivers have accomplished.
Things turned to concern on July 3rd when Dale Jr was injured in a
practice crash at Milwaukee, he hit the wall hard and chipped the tip of a
bone on his shoulder. Ron Hornaday stepped in and qualified the back-up
car in the 15th position, the next day even though Dale Jr was battered
and sore he raced the car to a 3rd place finish.
| The ACDelco Team struggled at Myrtle Beach and Pikes Peak but came back to win at Gateway International Raceway, Michigan Speedway and Richmond International Raceway, where his mother, Brenda Jackson joined her son in victory lane. When the end of the season was winding down it was a title match between points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr, friend and competitor Matt Kenseth and Jeff Green. On Nov. 6th at Phoenix International Raceway Dale Jr clinched the BGN Championship driving a car that had a special Superman paint scheme. |
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The weight that was bearing down on Dale Jr was lifted, it was easy to see the pressure was removed from the driver in the post race interview, there's no doubt that his sleepless nights were over. "There was a lot of pressure. I don't know where it was coming from or why I felt it, but there was," he said.
His father understood what his son was going through. "He did a good job," Earnhardt said. "He kept his head about him all year. He had a lot on him this year, a lot of pressure from doing the Winston Cup thing and also the Busch Grand National thing. He had a lot of pressure on him and a lot of people pulling at him. He’s weathered it good. He’s done a good job."
The ACDelco Team took the championship with 6 wins, 18 top-5's and 22 top-10's, it was practically a repeat performance of the 1998 season. Dale Jr said, "It's been a good year. It's been a great year."
2000
The 2000 season was Dale Jr's and the Bud Team's first full year in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was an exciting year for the fans, the Budweiser Team won two NASCAR Winston Cup points races and the Winston Select, the first rookie to ever win that race. The "Rookie of the Year" battle came down to Matt Kenseth and two-time BGN Champion Dale Earnhardt Jr., both rookies had a fantastic year but Matt was more consistant and took the 2000 R.O.T.Y.
Earnhardt Jr. was quoted as saying, "We are happy with what we did. We won races. That was great." "We learned a lot. We did poorly in some areas, but we know how far we have to go. It taught us a lot about ourselves. We'd like to run more consistently in the top five or the top 10."
2001
The 2001 season was Dale Jr's sophomore year as a NASCAR Winston Cup driver, the yellow stripe on the back of his car was gone, he was no longer a rookie. Even though the Bud team had a very impressive rookie season, they had problems both on and off the track, they wanted to change that in 2001. Going into Daytona early in February, no one had any idea just how difficult Dale Jr's sophomore year would be.
The first race of the 2001 season had arrived, the fans were being treated to an exciting Daytona 500, in the closing lap the DEI cars of Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. were 1st and 2nd, the 3rd place car was the famous black #3 of Dale Earnhardt. Michael won the race, his first in the Winston Cup Series, and Jr. took 2nd place, however, there would be no celebration. On the last lap of the race tragedy struck the Earnhardt family and the entire sports world when Dale Earnhardt crashed, he had lost his life doing what he loved to do.
NASCAR had lost it's greatest driver, the Earnhardt fans had lost one
of their heroes, Dale Jr. had lost not only his hero but his father. With
a heavy heart Dale Jr, his family and those who knew Dale carried on.
"We'll get through this," Jr. said. "I'm sure he'd want us
to keep going, and that's what we're going to do."
As time went along there were a number of difficult things that Dale Jr.
had to deal with, for example, the prerace ceremonies honoring his father
would take his focus away from the task at hand, that was getting 'into
the zone' to drive the car. There were also fans who wanted him to sign
things that were his father's, they didn't seem to understand that this
would bother him. There were a number of other things he had to deal with,
but through this time Dale Jr. showed strength and he was determined to
keep going. His friend and Public Relations representative, Jade Gurss,
said he could see a big change in Jr., it was as if he "grew up"
over night.
| On the weekend of July 7th, 2001, Dale Jr. and the Bud team returned to Daytona, they showed just how determined they were by blowing away the competition that evening, in an ironic twist Jr. recieved drafting help on the final laps from Michael Waltrip (The man that won the Daytona 500 with the drafting help of Dale Jr.), the two DEI cars roared across the finish line in 1st and 2nd! On his cool-down lap Earnhardt Jr. said over his in-car radio, "Y'all know who that's for, guys." |  |
On Sept 11th, a horrific terrorist attack took place in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania, so huge was this terrible event that it effected every individual in the country in one way or another. Sporting events were not important, the race at New Hampshire was canceled. At this time people's thoughts and prayers were being directed to the many families who lost their loved ones, also many fire fighters, police officers and medical personel went to the scenes to help.
The next race was at Dover Downs Int'l Speedway, there was much talk and concern about the Sept. 11th tragedy, many drivers including Dale Jr. made generous donations to help the families that were effected. At a time when many people were feeling down in spirit Jr. and the Bud team raced to a victory at Dover, for many fans this was a time to celebrate, Dale Jr. and the Bud Team made many people feel somewhat better that day.
The Bud team's third win came at Talladega, after great pit stops by the crew, it was all Dale Jr. in the closing laps of the race, he wheeled the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet exactly where he needed to, fortunately he was ahead of a large pack of cars that wrecked, it was "the big one". Jr. held off the few remaining cars behind him and took the checkers, not only did he win the race, as one of the No-Bull 5 contenders he won an extra million dollars for DEI and a another million for a fan.
When the season ended Dale Jr. and the Bud team racked up 3-wins, 9 top-5s and 15 top-10s, the team finished 8th in the points standings, by doing so Jr. got to say his "piece" (referring to his speech), at the Winston Cup Banquet in New York City, this was something he really wanted to do.
In a season that was filled with emotions beyond belief, Dale Jr., Tony Eury Sr, the Bud team and DEI carried on, if the team would've finished out of the top-25 in points it would've been understandable, but they kept it together, by doing so they showed strength and determination, they got on the stage at New York City, this is something that would've made Dale Earnhardt a very proud team owner and father.
2002
Dale Jr. Quotes:
"We didn't hit our goal, which was a top-five finish, but I don't
think any of us will worry about that this off-season. We finished really
strong, and we just missed getting back into the top-10 in points. If you
look at the numbers, we did better than ever before… We had more
top-fives, more top-10s and we led more laps, so I think we grew as a
team.
"Yeah, we struggled after that big hit in Fontana (in April), but
once we all got together and began communicating better, we really came on
strong. I don't see any reason why we can't string together that sort of
consistency all year next year. We were more consistent than we had ever
been in the last 10 or 12 races of the year. We're a good team - and we
can be a great team - so we're going to keep working on being the
championship contenders I know we can be. The first few tests of the new
2003 Monte Carlo have made us really excited about the potential for that
car and for the Bud team… Look out!"
Dale Jr had 2 wins (Talladega in April and October), 2 Bud poles (Michigan
in August and Kansas in September), 11 top five finishes and 16 top ten
finishes, led in 22 races, the most for all Winston Cup drivers in 2002,
won $4,510,151* (*Includes the Winston Million for win at Talladega in
October, but does not include the approximately $340,000 bonus for
finishing 11th in points)
Point Standings: 11th Average Start: 12.8 Average Finish: 17.1Notables:
- Both victories for the Bud team came at Talladega, giving them a string of three consecutive wins at the Alabama superspeedway. The October victory secured a Winston No-Bull bonus of $1 million for the second season in a row..
- Dale Jr. and the team have now scored at least two victories in each of their three full seasons of Winston Cup competition.
- The team has recorded two Bud Pole positions in each of their first three seasons, earning a spot in the 2003 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.
- In 111 career Winston Cup starts, all with the No. 8 Bud team, Dale Jr. has earned more than $13 million in prize money.
- Though generally known as a team that dominates on the superspeedways, Dale Jr. and his Bud mates actually excelled this season on the short tracks, recording five top-five finishes in six races at the shortest of tracks: Martinsville, Richmond and Bristol.
- Dale Jr. finished second in each of the "non-points" races he entered this season: the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, the Twin 125, and The Winston.
- Dale Jr. won two of the three Busch Series races he entered this season, including a debut victory as a Busch Series car owner at Richmond in September.
- "Driver No. 8," Dale Jr's written record of his rookie season in the Winston Cup series, hit the shelves in paperback form on December 1st, 2003. The hard-cover version from Warner Books spent 13 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller list (peaking at No. 4) earlier this year (2002), and expectations for the paperback are equally high. Editors at Amazon.com selected "Driver #8" as one of the top 10 best sports books of 2002. Based on sales figures from the giant online book seller, "Driver #8" was the top-selling sports book of the year.
2003
Dale Jr. Quotes:
(After the last race of the season at Homestead) “It feels like the last day of school. I’m goin’ home to celebrate. We were never very good today, but third-place in points is something I’m really proud of. It shows what a great season we had, how much we improved as a team and how we were able to run competitively week-after-week, a lot more consistent than before. We wanted to win the championship, but third is something we can really build on.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 team had the best season of their brief Winston Cup career in 2003. The Bud Team racked up 2 wins (Talladega/April, Phoenix/November), 10 top three finishes, 13 top five finishes, 21 top ten finishes, led in 24 races, won $4,923,497* (*does not include post-season awards or points money).
Points Finish: 3rd (career best, previous best: 8th, 2001)
Average Start: 12.47 (career best, previous best: 13th, 2002)
Average Finish: 12.69 (career best, previous best: 15th, 2001)
“Other” Victories: 2003 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona
Twin-125 Qualifier, Daytona
League-Leading Awards:
Most Races Led / Most Leader Bonus Points tied w/J. Gordon)
2003 McDonald’s Pit Crew Drive-Thru Award
$200,000 Season Champion Bonus
5-time race champions: $100,000 Bonus
MBNA Mid-Race Leader Award: 5 times (tied w/T. Stewart)
Goodyear Fastest Lap Award: 8 times
(In 2003, Dale Jr. also won three races in three starts with the Chance 2
Busch Series team he co-owns.)Dale Earnhardt Jr. was awarded the 2003 Grands Biscuits NASCAR Most Popular Driver award today during ceremonies at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The award is based on voting by race fans around the world. Dale Jr. earned more than 1.3 million votes, which represents more than the combined total of the the remaining top-10 vote getters.
The "Most Popular Driver Award" is presented by the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), and has been an active award since 1956. Dale Jr. joins his dad, seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, as the only father and son combination to win the award.
"That's cool. I like big trophies..." Junior joked at the award presentation. "No, really, this means a lot for me. It's a powerful thing to know how much fan support I have out there, and I try to never forget it. I'm grateful and thank all of the fans who voted for me."
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team were also awarded a $75,000 bonus for the 2003 Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap Award. The team won the Fastest Lap Award at eight races this season, more than any other team. They were also tied for the league lead in the MBNA Halfway Leader Award. Both Dale Jr. and Tony Stewart led at the halfway mark of five races in 2003.
Dale Jr. accepted a check well in excess of $1 million the evening of the NASCAR Winston Cup Awards Banquet for his career-best third-place finish in the 2003 point standings.
2004
Dale Jr. Daytona 500 Quotes:
“This is awesome. This is the greatest race, this is the greatest day of
my life, and I can’t really describe it. I don’t know if I’ll ever
be able to tell this story to anybody and get it right. This is just a
great feeling.”
ON THE WORK OF HIS SPOTTER, STEVIE REEVES: “My spotter was awesome all
day. We’ve been hearing all these people talk about how we’re not
going to be able to work together. I mean, a spotter is a very important
key to a team. We changed spotters, and everybody was pretty concerned
about that. I’m glad me and Stevie work so well together. I know one
time he came over the radio screaming and hollering, but it was because he
was screaming at the spotter next to him to get his driver to give me a
push, and he didn’t know he was keying the mic the whole time. It
excited the hell out of me. I was like, ‘Hell yeah!’ He was up there
screaming, ‘Go with him, go with him!’ And I was like, wow, this is
intense. He wants it just as bad as we want it, and that pumped my ass
right up. I think that’s when I turned it on right then.”
ON WHETHER HE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT MISFORTUNES ON THE FINAL LAP HAVING SEEN
HIS FATHER LOSE THE DAYTONA 500 SO MANY TIMES AT THE END OF THE RACE: “Nah,
I wasn’t really thinking none of that at all. Me and Tony (Stewart)
already came down here and went through a helluva heartbreak losing the 24
Hour race the way we did (two weeks ago). You couldn’t beat that sore
hard enough to make it hurt anymore. I’ve been through it enough. I don’t
think anyone can understand it, but if a tire would’ve blown out on the
last lap, it wouldn’t have bothered me one bit. We would’ve just had
to come back again and again and again.”
ON THE FINAL 15 LAPS: “That was the longest 15 laps of my life. The car
was awesome all week. I knew I had one of the few cars that could’ve
made the pass I made on Tony. He was strong all day. We helped each other
all day, and it was cool that it came down to us racing for the win. He’s
a good friend of mine, and I can’t think of many people I’d rather
race for a win in the Daytona 500 than Tony. I got a good run on him, went
high, he went up to block me, so I swept back down across his bumper and
got enough momentum to get a nose out in front of him. I saw he had some
drafting help coming, but I just had a really good run and was able to
pass him. Once I got out in front, it was just a matter of holding him
off. I saw he was trying to use lapped traffic or whatever he could get to
get by me. But this Budweiser Chevrolet was haulin’ today. (Crew chief)
Tony Eury Sr., Tony (Eury) Jr., (car chief) and all the guys on the team
have worked so hard at winning the Daytona 500. I’m kinda glad to say I
put the ongoing strive to win the Daytona 500 to rest.”
The 2004 Season in Numbers:
Budweiser No. 8 Team with driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season was the most successful in the
brief career of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team.
Here are the team's career-best marks this season: (Numbers in parenthesis show the rank among all Nextel Cup teams, so (2) means second best overall this season.) Victories: 6 (2) Prize Money: $8,913,510 (2) Top-3 Finishes: 13 (2) Top-5 Finishes: 16 (2) Top-10 Finishes: 21* (5) * ties 2003 season Avg. Start: 11.9 (3) Avg. Finish: 11.8 (3) Laps Led: 1131 (3) Laps Completed: 10,588 (2) Led Cup Points: 10 weeks (first time to lead Cup point standings) Stats within the inaugural 10-race "Chase for the Nextel Cup: Victories: 2 Top-3 Finishes: 4 Top-10 Finishes: 6 Top-33 Finishes: 10------
The Bud team won the first race of the Nextel Cup era, the season-opening Daytona 500 (supposedly that's a big race)... The team led 19 races and also won a Twin-125 qualifying race at Daytona in 2004... Due to injuries suffered in a sports-car crash in June, Dale Jr. was forced to use a relief driver for the first time. Martin Truex Jr. (Loudon) became the second driver to ever compete in the No. 8 Bud car, while John Andretti (Pocono) became the third the following week... The Bud team won races at Daytona (Feb.), Atlanta (March), Richmond (May), Bristol (August), Talladega (Oct.) and Phoenix (Nov.)... Dale Jr. had two "weekend-sweeps." winning the Busch Series and Cup Series races the same weekend at Daytona (Feb.) and Bristol (Aug.)... Dale Jr. now has a streak of five consecutive multi-victory seasons, and has been in the Cup Top-10 in points for 69 consecutive weeks (despite being docked 25 points twice in seperate uh... 'incidents.').. The fifth-place finish is the third top-10 points finish in the last four seasons.
----- Dale Jr. and No. 8 Bud team career numbers: (1999-2004) Starts: 183 Victories: 15 Bud Poles: 6 Top-3 Finishes: 37 Top-5 Finishes: 52 Top-10 Finishes: 78 Races Led: 92 Laps Led: 4440 Money Winnings: $29,555,869 -----