Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. bigraphy, stories - American stock car racing driver, team owner, and sporting figure

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. : biography

October 10, 1974 –
  • NOTE: References to "Earnhardt", "he", and "him" refer to the subject of this article, unless otherwise specified. References to his father will include "Sr."

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American stock car racing driver and team owner. He is the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, Sr. He is also the grandson of both NASCAR driver Ralph Earnhardt and stock car fabricator Robert Gee, the half-brother of former driver Kerry Earnhardt, the uncle of driver Jeffrey Earnhardt, the stepson of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team co-owner Teresa Earnhardt and the older half-brother of Taylor Earnhardt-Putnam. Earnhardt, Jr. has won the Most Popular Driver Award ten times (consecutively from 2003-2012). He has an estimated net worth of $300 million.

He currently drives the No. 88 Chevrolet SS in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports and drives the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for his own team, JR Motorsports, in selected events in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Media appearances

Television

He hosted Back in the Day a show that took a step back in time to races in the ’60s and ’70s with trivia and information. The show debuted on the Speed Channel on February 6, 2007. He has also appeared in an episode of the TV show Yes, Dear. He has also been on two episodes of MTV Cribs. The first episode originally aired in 2001. The second episode featuring the Western town Dale Jr. built originally aired in 2009. His production company Hammerhead Entertainment also assisted in creating a DirecTV special called "Fast Lane For Fun", in which Earnhardt Jr.’s Whisky River was shown in one episode. He appeared in an episode of Shaq Vs., where he was racing against Shaquille O’Neal.

Radio

Earnhardt, Jr. hosted a show on Sirius XM Radio’s Sirius XM Sports Nation called Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s Unrestricted.

Beginning the 2013 season, Dale Jr.’s Hammerhead Entertainment began producing Dirty Mo Radio, a weekly podcast recapping Dale Jr.’s race weekend. It is hosted by Taylor Zarzour and Mike Davis.

Films

He appeared in the 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. In the movie, he is seen asking Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) for his autograph, and tells Ricky "don’t tell any of the other drivers." There is also a deleted scene on the DVD where he calls Ricky a "dirty liar" and asks him for money he owed him. The No. 8 car also appeared in Herbie: Fully Loaded in the final race where Herbie overtook him. His No. 88 car also appeared in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon as Roadbuster of the Wreckers, a trio of NASCAR stock cars equipped with armor on the front that can transform into heavy artillery tanks (the other Wreckers were based on the No. 42 and No. 48 cars driven respectively by Juan Pablo Montoya and Jimmie Johnson). The Wrecker versions of these cars circled the track during the opening pace laps of the 2011 Daytona 500 (Josh Duhamel, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Michael Bay were also the grand marshals for that race, in which Earnhardt crashed on lap 203 after making contact with Ryan Newman).

Voice work

  • His voice is featured in the video game Scarface: The World is Yours.
  • He voiced himself in Disney/Pixar’s movie Cars as an No. 8 car (painted in resemblance to Earnhardt’s actual car) named "Junior" with the DEI logo on the hood. The Budweiser logos were censored from the No. 8 to prevent alcoholic advertising to gain a "G" (General) rating.
  • His voice was used for the character Chase Davis in an episode of the Disney Channel’s Handy Manny. Chase helps Manny compete in the Wood Valley 500 auto race in Handy Manny’s Big Race.

Music video appearances

He has made appearances in several music videos, including:

  • "Show Me What You Got" with Jay-Z along with Danica Patrick
  • Matthew Good Band’s video for Anti-Pop, as he is friends with band frontman, Matthew Good.
  • Sheryl Crow’s "Steve McQueen" music video
  • Trace Adkins video entitled "Rough and Ready"
  • Three Doors Down’s "The Road I’m On" along with Tony Stewart
  • O.A.R.’s "Right on Time"
  • Nickelback’s "Rockstar" along with other celebrities
  • "Warrior" by Kid Rock