The Secret To Dale Earnhardt Jr Success
In the 2001 Daytona 500 it looked like Dale Earnhardt was in complete control of his race car. Suddenly Earnhardt crashed into the wall on turn four of the final lap in what seemed to be a fairly routine NASCAR wall crash. Further down the track Earnhardt’s son Dale Jr had finished the race second to Michael Waltrip and neither Waltrip or Dale Jr realized the serious nature of the crash. Earnhardt Sr did not regain consciousness and he was declared dead at 5:16pm that day. Suddenly the shadow that Dale Earnhardt Jr was driving under got very cold and very heavy.
Dale Jr tried to race the next week but finished 43rd out of 43 cars and he was involved in a wreck that looked a lot like the wreck that killed his father just the week before. But Dale Jr survived his crash and suddenly the spotlight was on the younger Earnhardt as not only were his father’s fans lost and confused but the newly formed Dale Earnhardt Racing Incorporated lost its founder and its leader and everyone was wondering if Dale Jr could fill his father’s shoes.
Dale Jr took the responsibility of his father’s company on his shoulders and set out to establish the name of Dale Earnhardt Jr in the world of NASCAR racing. He spent a greater part of the 2002 season answering questions about his father and trying to help the racing world put his father’s death in perspective which is a lot to deal with for a young man only 28 years old. Dake Jr desperately wanted to keep his father’s memory and legacy intact by creating his own driving success and it was not long before he accomplished just that.
In 2004 Dale Jr won the Daytona 500 which is the race his father was killed in just 3 years prior and since that win Dale Jr has never looked back. The fans were squarely behind Dale Jr as well as he has been voted the most popular NASCAR driver every year since 2003. Dale Jr has 18 NASCAR Nextel Cup wins to his credit and has been a challenger for the Nextel Cup nearly every season since 2003.
Recently Dale Jr got involved in a very public and emotional battle for control of Dale Earnhardt Racing with members of his family and because of that battle he recently decided to leave Dale Earnhardt Racing and join up with the powerful Hendrick Motorsports racing team and today Dale Earnhardt Jr remains a top competitor on the NASCAR circuit.