Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Birthday: Oct. 10, 1974
Hometown: Kannapolis, N.C.

YEAR-BY-YEAR NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RECAP

2007 -- Finished 16th in series points. ... Finished with one pole, seven top-fives and 12 top-10s in a disappointing season, his last with Dale Earnhardt Inc. ... Announced in May that he would join Hendrick Motorsports for the '08 season. ... Nine DNFs marked a career-high. ... First full-time season without a win. ... Voted NASCAR's most popular driver for a fifth consecutive year.

2006 -- Finished fifth in series points. ... Fourth career finish in Sprint Cup top 10. ... Finished with one win, 10 top-fives and 17 top-10s. ... Only victory came at Richmond in May. ... Earned a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup following a one-year absence. ... Voted NASCAR's most popular driver for a fourth consecutive year.

2005 -- Finished 19th in series points. ... Captured his only victory under the leadership of DEI technical director Steve Hmiel, who took over for crew chief Pete Rondeau after the spring Charlotte race. ... Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. led the No. 8 team from the fall New Hampshire race to the end of the season. ... Posted seven top-fives and 13 top-10's. ... Voted NASCAR's most popular driver for the third consecutive year.

2004 -- Finished fifth in series points. ... Had six victories, second only to Jimmie Johnson's eight. ... Daytona 500 victory made the Dale Earnhardt/Dale Earnhardt Jr. tandem only the third father/son combination to win The Great American Race, along with Lee and Richard Petty and Bobby and Davey Allison. ... Won two restrictor-plate races and was the only driver to post top-10 finishes in each of the four restrictor-plate races.

2003 -- Finished third in series points, his best career finish. ... Was second in the standings for 19 race weekends. ... Posted two victories -- Talladega in April and Phoenix in November; his Talladega win was his record fourth consecutive there. ... Narrowly missed a fifth consecutive win at Talladega in September with a runner-up finish to DEI teammate Michael Waltrip. ... Posted career bests with 13 top-fives and 21-top 10s, totals that were fourth and third in the series, respectively. ... Voted NASCAR's most popular driver, marking the first time a father and son have received the award; his father won posthumously in 2001.

2002 -- Finished 11th in series points. ... Won two races, via season sweep at Talladega Superspeedway. ... Two poles, at Michigan and Kansas. ... Led a series-high 1,068 laps. ... Recorded 11 top-five finishes, 16 top-10s and had the most consecutive top-five finishes (three) in his career. ... Also posted career bests in top-five starts (13) and fewest DNFs (three). ... Won in his first Nationwide Series race as driver/owner at Richmond (Sept).

2001 -- Finished eighth in series points. ... Scored a trio of dramatic, emotional victories. ... First win came in July at Daytona, the first race there since his father's death in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18. He held off DEI teammate Michael Waltrip, to whom he finished second in February, for that win. ... Next victory came at Dover in the series' first race back after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and he punctuated that win with a victory lap carrying an American flag. ... Third win came in October at Talladega, the site of his father's final career victory a year earlier.

2000 -- Finished 16th in series points. ... Became first rookie to win the Sprint All-Star Challenge. ... Came up 42 points shy of winning the Raybestos rookie of the year title behind former Nationwide Series foe Matt Kenseth. ... Joined Jeff Burton as second first-time winner at Texas Motor Speedway. ... Along with Tony Stewart, became second rookie in two years to win at Richmond.

1999 -- Competed in five races. ... Best start was eighth in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. ... Best finish was 10th at Richmond in September.

PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY

Won back-to-back Nationwide Series titles in 1998 and 1999, his only two full seasons of Nationwide Series competition. ... Has won 20 races and has more than $3 million in Nationwide Series earnings. ... Entered three Nationwide Series races and won all three in 2003. ... Won six times with 22 top-10 finishes and three poles in 1999. ... Won seven races and three poles in 1998. ... Scored his first Nationwide Series victory in his 16th start at Texas, where he would later get his first Sprint Cup win. ... Made his Nationwide Series debut at Myrtle Beach, S.C. in 1996. ... He started seventh and finished 14th. ... Began his professional career at age 17 competing in the street stock division at Concord Motorsport Park, later moving up to the Late Model stock division. ... First racecar was a 1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that he owned along with his brother, Kerry. ... Raced against Kerry and sister Kelley at the beginning of his career. ... Won three feature victories in his NASCAR weekly series Late Model stock career (1994-1996). ... When he raced in the Pepsi 400 at Michigan in 2000 along with his late father, Dale, and brother, Kerry, it was the second time a father and two sons ran in the same Sprint Cup event. Lee Petty also raced against his sons, Richard and Maurice.

NOTEWORTHY

Owner of JR Motorsports. ... Co-owner of Chance 2 Motorsports when that organization won consecutive Nationwide Series titles with driver Martin Truex Jr. in 2004 and '05. ... Says his hero is his late father, seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt. ... His first Nationwide Series title in 1998 made him NASCAR's first third-generation champion coupled with his father's record-tying seven Sprint Cup titles and grandfather Ralph Earnhardt's 1956 NASCAR Sportsman Division title. ... Lists the Washington Redskins as his favorite sports team. ... 2006 Corvette Z 06, 2001 Corvette C5-R with LeMans wing, 2005 Corvette, 2001 "Intimidator SS" Camaro, 1996 Hummer, 2002 Mini Cooper and a Chevrolet Z-71 pickup are just some of the vehicles in his personal fleet.