Dale Earnhardt Jr. has added to a legacy that includes 15 Most Popular Driver awards and a Hall of Fame jacket. Now he is a member of NASCAR‘s 75 Greatest Drivers list.
The news broke on Thursday, April 27. NASCAR announced the news on social media while former crew chief Steve Letarte surprised Earnhardt on an episode of “The Dale Jr. Download” podcast. Letarte handed over the box given to the drivers on this prestigious list, and he highlighted some of the standout stats.
This #NASCAR75 moment on the Dale Jr. Download is everything. ❤️
Earnhardt achieved a considerable amount of success during his time in NASCAR. He won 24 Xfinity Series races in his 144 starts, and he captured back-t0-back championships in 1998 and 1999.
Earnhardt fell short of a championship as a Cup Series driver, but he added 26 more wins in his 631 career starts. The North Carolina native also captured the All-Star Race two times (2000, 2012).
Earnhardt Captured Multiple Crown Jewel Races
GettyDale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates a Daytona 500 win.
There are several tracks where Earnhardt celebrated wins during his Cup Series career. He captured a grandfather clock at Martinsville Speedway in 2014, and he celebrated three wins at both Phoenix Raceway and Richmond Raceway. He added two more wins each at Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway.
Earnhardt also captured multiple Crown Jewel races during his career. He won the Daytona 500 to start the 2004 season while driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. He then added his second Daytona 500 win at the start of the 2014 season while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
The 2014 season featured Earnhardt winning his second Daytona 500, and it marked the second time that he won at least four races in a single season. Earnhardt started the year with a win in Florida, and he ultimately finished eighth in the first year of the elimination era of the playoffs.
Earnhardt Was a Plate Race Aficionado in Multiple Series
GettyDale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates a win at Talladega Superspeedway.
The Daytona 500 wins were only a glimpse of the success that Earnhardt achieved on NASCAR’s superspeedways. He also won the Daytona summer race twice, which includes the first event at the Florida track after the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 2001.
Four wins at Daytona is a strong statistic, but Earnhardt was even more successful at Talladega Superspeedway. He won six times at the Alabama track between 2001 and 2015. This run includes four straight wins in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
These six Talladega wins are the second most in NASCAR Cup Series history. Earnhardt sits in a tie with Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski, and they are all behind Dale Sr. The Intimidator won 10 times at Talladega Superspeedway during his championship career.
Two #DAYTONA500 wins, ten years apart. #NASCAR75
Earnhardt added another seven superspeedway wins during his time in what is now the Xfinity Series. He won at Talladega Superspeedway in 2003 while driving for Chance 2 Motorsports, and he won six times at Daytona International Speedway while driving for multiple teams.
The most iconic of these wins took place during the 2010 Xfinity Series seasons. Earnhardt joined Richard Childress Racing for the summer race at Daytona, and he showed up to the track with a throwback Wrangler scheme on the No. 3 Chevrolet. He went on to lead 33 laps in the car honoring his father while holding off a stacked field of drivers.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Adds to NASCAR Legacy