Next up in PTR’s Career Statistics article series for retired NASCAR drivers is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Jr. retirement announcement in April 2017 upset the “Junior World” . Voted the most popular driver in NASCAR highest series for 15 times in a row, Dale Jr. will leave a empty room for all his fans for the seasons ahead. Growing up in stock car racing most famous family ever, it was almost certain that Dale Jr. would go into his father and grandfather steps and become a stock car driver. Dale Jr. did become a restrictor-plate specialist (Super Speedways) and won the Daytona 500 twice and the Can-Am Duels five times. Dale Jr. is a two time Busch Series (Xfinity Series) champion. In 2018, Dale Jr. will join NBC Sports Group’s coverage.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Born: Kannapolis, North Carolina, October 10, 1974
Education: Mitchell Community College with an associates degree in automotive technology
Nickname: Dale Jr./Junior/Little E
NASCAR Career achievements
2003, 2004, 2008, 2015, 2016 Can-Am Duel Winner
2004, 2014 Daytona 500 Winner
2003, 2008 Budweiser Shootout Winner
2000 The Winston Winner
1998,1999 Busch Series Champion
NASCAR Career Awards
2017 Bill France Award of Excellence
2017 Texas Motorsports Hall Of Fame Inductee
2003-2017 Monster Energy Cup Series Most Popular Driver (15 times)
1999 Busch Series Most Popular Driver
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career
631 races run over 19 years
2017 position: 21th
Best finish: 3rd (2003)
First race: 1999 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Last race: 2017 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead)
First win: 2000 DirecTV 500 (Texas)
Last win: 2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (Phoenix)
Win: 26 | T5: 149 | T10: 260 | Pole: 15 | Laps: 179429 | Laps Led: 8234 | AvSt: 16,1 | AvFn: 15,8 | LLF: 420 | DNQ: 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
139 races run over 21 years
2016 position: 91th
Best finish: 1st (1998, 1999)
First race: 1996 Carolina Pride / Red Dog 250 (Myrtle Beach)
Last race: 2017 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond)
First win: 1998 Coca-Cola 300 (Texas)
Last win: 2016 ToyotaCare 250 (Richmond)
Win: 24 | T5: 67 | T10: 91 | Pole: 10 | Laps: 24422 | Laps Led: 3569 | AvSt: 11,6 | AvFn: 10,8 | LLF: 103 | DNQ: 2
Source: Wikipedia, racing-reference.info
Photo credits: Tom Pennington/Getty Images (NASCAR Media.com)
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