Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2000

The 2000 season was Earnhardt's breakout year in the Winston Cup Series. He competed for the Raybestos NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award in 2000. His primary competitor for the award was Matt Kenseth. Kenseth outran Earnhardt in the season-opening Daytona 500. Earnhardt scored his first win in the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, breaking the record held by his father Earnhardt Sr. for the fewest starts by a driver to earn his first victory in NASCAR's "modern era" by winning in his twelfth start, and also at Richmond International Raceway. He became the first rookie to win The Winston.

Earnhardt played a part in recreating one Winston Cup milestone in 2000 when he competed with his father and half-brother Kerry in the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway. That occasion was only the second time that a father had raced against two sons – Lee Petty and his two sons Richard and Maurice had previously accomplished the feat.

Earnhardt ended the 2000 season with two wins, three top-fives, five top-tens, and two poles.

2001

The season began with the 2001 Daytona 500 and on the final lap of the race, Earnhardt Jr. and his teammate Michael Waltrip competed for the win, with Jr eventually finishing second to Waltrip.

Behind the leading two cars, Earnhardt Jr's father had crashed into the outside wall of turn 4 after Sterling Marlin made contact with his left rear bumper. Earnhardt Sr. was pronounced dead at 5:16 pm due to a basilar skull fracture.

In the aftermath, many disgruntled fans sent death threats to Marlin and his family, blaming him for the crash; Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip both requested that fans stop blaming anybody for Earnhardt Sr.'s death, and both the local police and NASCAR investigations into the crash cleared Marlin of any involvement. Earnhardt Jr. raced at Rockingham the following weekend but finished in 43rd place after a wreck on the first lap that looked eerily similar to his father's wreck.

Returning to Daytona for the Pepsi 400, Earnhardt Jr. made a comeback and had the dominant car of the race, leading 115 out of 160 laps. On the last restart, he managed to make a move from sixth to 1st-place in the span of two laps, with Waltrip holding off the field as Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag.

He won the MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 at Dover, which was the first Winston Cup Series race following the September 11 attacks as the original scheduled race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was postponed until the end of the season. After the race, he performed a Polish victory lap while holding a large American flag out the driver's side window.

In October, Earnhardt Jr. took his second restrictor plate win as he won the EA Sports 500 at Talladega, for which he also scored a Winston No Bull 5 $1 million bonus. He was docked 25 points, however, after his car failed post-race inspection. With this win, DEI swept three of the four restrictor plate races for 2001, only failing to win the spring Talladega race. He finished the 2001 season eighth in the points standings with three wins, nine top-fives, fifteen top-tens, and two poles.

2002–2003

In 2002, Earnhardt Jr. had a roller-coaster season. He struggled after enduring a concussion from a head-on collision to the outside wall at the California race in April – an injury he did not admit to until mid-September. In the three races following California, he finished no better than thirtieth. However, Earnhardt Jr. rallied to sweep both Talladega races (leading a dominating 133 of 188 laps in the spring race), a pair of Bud Pole Awards, and an eleventh-place finish in the points standings with eleven top-fives and sixteen top-ten's.

In 2003, Earnhardt Jr. became a true title contender, scoring a record-breaking fourth consecutive win at Talladega, after being involved in a 27-car crash on lap four. He struggled for most of the race and was at points a half-lap down, only catching back up to the pack through a caution. The win was controversial because with five laps to go, it appeared that Earnhardt went below the yellow line to gain position, but NASCAR ruled that Matt Kenseth had forced him below the line, making it a clean pass.

He later scored a victory at Phoenix in October, recording a career-best third-place effort in the point standings, with thirteen top-fives and 21 top-tens. He also took home the NMPA Most Popular Driver award for the first time in his career.

2004–2006

In 2004, Earnhardt won the Daytona 500, six years to the day after his father won his only title in the Great American Race (and three years after his father was killed in the 2001 race). Earnhardt came very close to sweeping Speedweeks, as in addition to the Daytona 500, he also won his Gatorade Duel and the Busch Series race. However, he finished second in the Budweiser Shootout to Dale Jarrett.

On July 18, during the summer off-weekend, Earnhardt crashed a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R during a practice for the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. The car slid off course and hit a concrete barrier during warm-up the day of the race, rupturing a fuel line and causing the car to burst into flames with him still inside. He suffered second and third-degree burns on his neck, chin, and legs, partially due to not wearing a protective balaclava with his helmet. The burns prevented him from finishing two races where he was relieved by Martin Truex Jr. (at New Hampshire) and his DEI teammate John Andretti (at Pocono) in the middle of the races. In the fall, Earnhardt became the first driver to sweep a weekend at Bristol by winning both the Busch and Nextel Cup races in the same weekend.

Earnhardt was able to qualify for the NASCAR ten-race playoff and had his fifth NEXTEL Cup win of the season (a career high) at Talladega. However, he was penalized 25 points for the use of an obscenity during the television broadcast, in violation of a new NASCAR rule prohibiting participants from using obscene language (the rule had been created the week after the Daytona 500, in the wake of the Super Bowl half-time show controversy). That incident, combined with two consecutive DNFs in the Chase, eventually dropped him out of the running, and he finished fifth in the 2004 NEXTEL Cup Chase despite a career-high six wins at Daytona, Atlanta, Richmond, Bristol, Talladega and defending his fall win at Phoenix (though under the non-Chase points system, Earnhardt would have tied his third place points finish of the previous year). He closed off the 2004 season with six wins, sixteen top-fives, and 21 top-tens. He also picked up his second consecutive Most Popular Driver Award.

At the close of the 2004 season, it was revealed that Tony Eury Sr. would be promoted to the team manager position for the DEI corporation, while Tony Eury Jr. became the crew chief for Michael Waltrip for the 2005 season. Peter Rondeau, a Chance 2 employee who also helped Earnhardt win the Busch Series race at Bristol in August, became the crew chief for Earnhardt in 2005. Rondeau served as Earnhardt's crew chief until the Coca-Cola 600 weekend when he was replaced with DEI chief engineer Steve Hmiel, who helped Earnhardt score his lone win of 2005 at Chicagoland in July when he took the lead from Matt Kenseth on the last cycle of pit stops. Earnhardt was eliminated from any possible competition for the NEXTEL Cup championship after suffering an engine failure at the California Speedway. Earnhardt was reunited with his cousin, Tony Eury Jr., after the fall Richmond weekend, and results improved immediately. Earnhardt finished the season nineteenth in points. For the third straight year, he took home the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award.

Earnhardt's proficiency as a car owner continued. His race team outside of DEI, JR Motorsports, in 2005 fielded a car in the USAR Hooters ProCup Series, winning once and qualifying for the Four Champions playoff. Mark McFarland moved to the Busch Series in 2006, driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports US Navy Chevrolet, with Richard Childress Racing providing assistance; however, he was fired before the fall Michigan race, the Carfax 250. He was replaced by Robby Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. for the rest of the year. Long-time short track racer Shane Huffman drove Earnhardt's USAR Hooters ProCup car in 2006. In 2006, during the spring weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt and other DEI drivers drove with special black paint schemes on their cars, reminiscent of his late father's famous No. 3 paint scheme. On Father's Day in 2006, he drove a vintage Budweiser car at Michigan International Speedway to honor both his grandfather (Ralph Earnhardt) and his father, who at one point in both their careers used the No. 8 car. After rain caused the race to be ended early, Earnhardt finished third with Kasey Kahne winning the race. After seventeen races in the 2006 season, Earnhardt sat third in the championship standings with one win, coming at Richmond in May 2006.

During the race at New Hampshire, he experienced the second engine failure of his 2006 season, ultimately leading to a 43rd-place finish. Following New Hampshire was the race at Pocono, where he was running in the middle of the pack when he crashed in turn 2. These two events catapulted him to 11th place in the points standings, out of the Chase for the Cup. At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Earnhardt and his crew made a critical decision to stay out on the final pit stop to get a much-needed top-ten finish to move him up to 10th in the points. He made the 2006 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup after finishing seventeenth in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 9, 2006. He came close to winning at Talladega and was leading on the last lap when Brian Vickers made contact with Earnhardt's future teammate Jimmie Johnson, sending Johnson into Earnhardt and spinning both of them out. His points position going into the Chase was sixth. He finished the season fifth in the point standings, 147 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

2007: Final season at DEI

Earnhardt began the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season by finishing 32nd at the Daytona 500 as a result of a late race crash. His first top-ten came at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500, where he finished seventh. His first top-five came at Martinsville Speedway in the Goody's Cool Orange 500. He led 136 laps and finished fifth. He collected his third top-ten of the season and his eighth at Talladega Superspeedway with his seventh place performance in the 2007 Aaron's 499. On May 14, 2007, he was docked one hundred driver championship points, car owner Teresa Earnhardt was docked 100 owner points, and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races due to the use of illegal mounting brackets used to attach the wing to his car. During the April race at Texas Motor Speedway he drove the last 10 laps in the No. 5 car of Kyle Busch owned by Rick Hendrick.

On May 27, 2007, Earnhardt rode a camouflage No. 8 car in the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day to raise money for the families of military troops. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Ward Burton, Denny Hamlin, Casey Mears, Shane Huffman, and Bill Elliott also changed their paint schemes for the occasion. He finished 8th, after leading with seven laps to go, but he had to pit for fuel and Casey Mears finished with the win.

On August 5, 2007, Earnhardt earned his first pole position in a race since 2002 at Pocono Raceway. Although Kurt Busch won the race, Earnhardt had a dramatic comeback to finish second after spinning out and experiencing shocking troubles. Earnhardt led for eight laps before Busch took over. On August 12 at Watkins Glen International, Earnhardt was making the push into the top-twelve of the Nextel Cup standings from his No. 13 position. After being in the No. 2 position during the race, Earnhardt had engine problems on lap 64 and had to end his race day. After the Glen, he tried furiously to reach the twelfth spot in the standings. However, a resurgence by Kurt Busch and a blown engine during the final race at Richmond ended his Chase hopes. That was his last chance to participate in the Championship at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI). After the 2007 season, Dale Jr. won the NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award for the fifth consecutive time.

After the season, Earnhardt, who had always been fascinated with Australian V8 Supercars, test drove the cars on vacation in Australia.

Move to Hendrick Motorsports

After much speculation, Earnhardt announced on May 10, 2007, that he would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his father, to drive for another team in 2008. Earnhardt expressed that his decision was based entirely on his desire to achieve his career goal of a Sprint Cup Championship, and his apparent belief that he would not be able to attain that objective while driving for DEI. He said that unless he could gain majority ownership, and therefore control, of DEI, he was not confident in the organization's ability to field the elite-level equipment that would yield the elusive title.

On June 13, 2007, he announced at a press conference that he had signed a five-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports, replacing Kyle Busch. At the time, Hendrick consisted of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Casey Mears.

One month later, on July 13, 2007, it was announced that his long-time primary sponsor Budweiser would not be with Earnhardt when he made the move to Hendrick. Other contractual agreements in place at Hendrick Motorsports are said to have prevented a relationship with Bud. Due to a previous friendship between team owner Rick Hendrick and Earnhardt's father, Earnhardt later said that going to drive for Hendrick almost felt like driving for a second family team.

On August 15, 2007, it was announced that Earnhardt would not be taking his familiar No. 8 with him to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. His late grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt, used that number, while Earnhardt picked it when he entered the Cup Series in 1999. His father also used No. 8 early in his career. Earnhardt Jr. blamed his stepmother for not allowing the No. 8 to move with him to Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt said negotiations broke down when Teresa Earnhardt asked for part of the licensing revenue, along with wanting the number back after he retired. (The No. 8 team, after a successful season in 2008 with co-drivers Mark Martin and Aric Almirola, would end up being shut down in 2009 after DEI's merger with Ganassi Racing).

Earnhardt moved to the No. 88 car with Tony Eury Jr. coming to Hendrick to remain as his crew chief. On September 19, 2007, the official announcement was made that Earnhardt would be driving the No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP/National Guard Chevrolet Impala for the 2008 season.

The No. 88, according to NASCAR archives, was driven by Ralph Earnhardt, his paternal grandfather, in 1957. His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee, was one of the first employees of All Star Racing, initially a Late Model Sportsman (now Xfinity Series) team with Gee as Hendrick's partner, which is now Hendrick Motorsports. Hendrick said about Earnhardt and his uncles, "I can look at Robert Gee Jr., or Jimmy Gee, or Dale Jr. and all I see is Robert Gee. They're the spitting image of him. I go back and look at pictures from when we did things together, and I have to say, I owe Robert a lot." Starting in the 2008 season, Hendrick Motorsports merged its Nationwide Series team to Earnhardt's JR Motorsports, with the cars coming from Earnhardt's shop, which employs his mother and uncles.

2008

Earnhardt started the 2008 season by winning the Budweiser Shootout, a non-points-paying exhibition. It was his first race for Hendrick. He led for a total of 47 out of seventy laps, a Budweiser Shootout record. He followed that up five days later with a win in the first of the Gatorade Duels. This was his third career win in the duels, however, he was unable to follow it up with victory in the Daytona 500, finishing ninth. Ryan Newman was the winner of the event.

Earnhardt was docked fifty points because his rear spoiler did not meet the specified height in the Nationwide Series. His crew chief Chad Walter was fined $35,000, suspended for six races, and placed on probation until December 31, 2008. Team owner Rick Hendrick was also docked fifty owner points along with Earnhardt.

2009

In the season-opening Daytona 500, Earnhardt began well, even leading for a lap. However, multiple misfortunes, including a missed pit stop and a one-lap penalty for pitting outside of his pit box, sent him far into the back of the running order. Earnhardt was then directly involved in a controversial crash on lap 124, when, while fighting to return to the lead lap, he came in contact with Brian Vickers while fighting to be the first driver one lap down (who gets a free pass should the caution flag come out), causing a 10-car pileup which included Denny Hamlin, Scott S

Business interests

Earnhardt owns Hammerhead Entertainment, a media production company that created and produced the TV show Back in the Day, which aired on SPEED. Hammerhead also produced "Shifting Gears", a show on ESPN2 that chronicled his 2008 team switch.

He was a partners with a group of investors who were building Alabama Motorsports Park, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. Speedway. The track was to be located near Mobile, Alabama, and would feature stock car racing, kart racing, and a road course. This would have joined with his partial ownership of Paducah International Raceway.

As of 2013, Earnhardt has his own signature line of eyeglass frames, partnering with NY Eye Inc. In August 2012, he entered the automobile dealer business, opening Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Buick-GMC-Cadillac in Tallahassee, Florida in association with car owner Rick Hendrick.

Earnhardt co-owns the Whiskey River Beer and Wings restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina, and at the Charlotte Airport.

Earnhardt is also the co-owner of FilterTime, a residential air filter delivery service, alongside former NASCAR driver Blake Koch.

Earnhardt has been a long-time sim racer. In November 2020, he officially joined iRacing as an executive director and was part of the management committee.

On January 9, 2023, a consortium consisting of Earnhardt's DEJ Management, Jeff Burton Autosports, Inc., Kevin Harvick Incorporated, and Trackhouse Racing Team purchased the CARS Tour.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

Xfinity Series

* Season still in progress

1 Ineligible for series points

CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

CARS Pro Late Model Tour

(key)

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

24 Hours of Daytona

(key)