Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Daytona 500 history

Year: 2000
Start: 8th
Finish: 13th
Note: Junior's first Daytona 500 was actually his first premier-series event on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway. He got to run alongside his dad in dual red paint schemes in The Great American Race.

Year: 2001
Start: 6th
Finish: 2nd
Note: Leading 13 laps, Junior showed glimpses of the talent that would make him one of the sport's best plate racers. Everything on this day, though, was overshadowed by the death of his father, Dale Earnhardt, on the final lap.

Year: 2002
Start: 5th
Finish: 29th
Note: Another strong qualifying effort, but Earnhardt wrecked twice in this one -- a solo incident on Lap 23 and an 18-car crash on Lap 150.

Year: 2003
Start: 2nd
Finish: 36th
Note: Earnhardt led 22 laps, but this one was called early due to rain after 109 circuits -- allowing Junior to celebrate with friend, and winner, Michael Waltrip.

Year: 2004
Start: 3rd
Finish: 1st
Note: Breakthrough! Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first Daytona 500, topping runner-up Tony Stewart (98 laps led). A beautiful pass on the inside with 20 laps to go vaulted Junior to the lead and the win.

Year: 2005
Start: 5th
Finish: 3rd
Note: Junior led only two laps, but started in the top five (fifth) and ended even higher -- third.

Year: 2006
Start: 7th
Finish: 8th
Note: This was a balanced Daytona 500. Seven drivers led at least 19 laps, including Dale Jr., whose 32 laps led were a race high.

Year: 2007
Start: 5th
Finish: 32nd
Note: Another top-five start for Junior, but no fireworks here -- at least not the good kind. Earnhardt was in a wreck on Lap 197 with Ricky Rudd and Jamie McMurray that ended his day. This would be his final Daytona 500 start with Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Year: 2008
Start: 3rd
Finish: 9th
Note: Earnhardt's first start for Hendrick Motorsports yielded a ninth-place finish and 12 laps led. The ensuing years would notch Earnhardt's place among the great Daytona maestros.

Year: 2009
Start: 14th
Finish: 27th
Note: This was Earnhardt's worst-ever start in The Great American Race, and he didn't get a chance to see it through. Rain stopped this one after 152 laps, with Earnhardt in 27th place after a late tangle with Brian Vickers.

Year: 2010
Start: 2nd
Finish: 2nd
Note: He was just .119 seconds behind race winner Jamie McMurray at the stripe, but this race started a productive four-year streak in NASCAR's season-opening event.

Year: 2011
Start: 1st
Finish: 24th
Note: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Daytona 500 pole for the first time in his career, but he didn't lead the field to green. A wreck in practice sent him to a backup car and the rear of the starting field for the 500. He managed to rally to lead nine laps, but retired after his involvement in the last of a race-record 16 caution periods.

Year: 2012
Start: 5th
Finish: 2nd
Note: Runner-up for the second time in three years, Junior was the only driver in the top five to have led zero laps.

Year: 2013
Start: 19th
Finish: 2nd
Note: Make it three runner-up finishes in four years. Earnhardt Jr. couldn't win the Daytona 500 for the second time in his career, watching instead as teammate Jimmie Johnson pulled away over the final 10 laps.

Year: 2014
Start: 9th
Finish: 1st
Note: He led 54 laps, waited through a lengthy rain delay and then held off the field over the final 18 laps by breaking the draft in both the high and low lanes, a strategy more popular now in present day than ever before. And just before midnight, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his second Daytona 500.

Year: 2015
Start: 3rd
Finish: 3rd
Note: Three for Dale? The answer to that was a resounding yes in 2015 when Earnhardt Jr. started third and finished third -- while leading 32 laps. It also was his first race with crew chief Greg Ives.

Year: 2016
Start: 3rd
Finish: 36th
Note: 'Amelia,' the name Earnhardt had given to his prized superspeedway car, was sent to the junkyard to stay after this one. Junior took a spin trying to drive his way back to the lead with 30 laps to go, matching the worst 500 finish of his career.

Year: 2017
Start: 2nd
Finish: 37th
Note: In his first race back after missing the final 18 races of 2016 with concussion-like symptoms, Junior took the lead on Lap 97 and led eight laps before getting caught up in a wreck on Lap 104 with Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and several others.