Dale Earnhardt Jr. through the years

By Staff report | Saturday, October 10, 2020

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Broadcaster. Champion driver. Son of a champion. And now, Hall of Famer. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had plenty of experiences in NASCAR, and his life and career will be honored as a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2021. Look back at his NASCAR life in honor of his 46th birthday on Oct. 10.

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Dozier Mobley | 1981 Dozier Mobley

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1981: Here young Dale Jr. stands atop a camper at Richmond Raceway as his father, Dale Earnhardt, competes.

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Dozier Mobley | 1982 Dozier Mobley

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1982: Dale Jr. and sister Kelley pose with father Dale Earnhardt and stepmom Teresa on their wedding day.

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Dozier Mobley | 1984 Dozier Mobley

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1984: Dale Earnhardt sits with his son Dale Earnhardt Jr., who would one day become a 14-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award winner and two-time Daytona 500 victor.

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RacingOne | 2007 RacingOne

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1986: Twelve-year-old Dale Jr. stands with stepmom Teresa and father Dale Earnhardt in Victory Lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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Dozier Mobley | 1987 Dozier Mobley

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1987: Dale Jr. poses in his military school uniform in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

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Dozier Mobley | 1990 Dozier Mobley

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1990: Dale Jr. finds himself a seat on a tire on pit road at Richmond.

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Dozier Mobley | 1992 Dozier Mobley

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1992: Dale Jr. poses with his Legends car he drove at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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Dozier Mobley | 1992 Dozier Mobley

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1992: Dale Jr. joins his dad and brother Kerry in Victory Lane after the 'Intimidator' won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

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RacingOne | 2007 RacingOne

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1998: Dale Jr. prepares for another race in the 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, now known as the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Junior's success in winning the points championship that year moved him up to a part-time role in the NASCAR Cup Series with Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 1999. Dale Jr. started running full-time in the Cup Series the next year.

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Jamie Squire

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1999: Dale Jr. stands with his father during the IROC race at Daytona Speedweeks.

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RacingOne | 2011 RacingOne

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1999: Although he finished second to Jeff Gordon in the Outback Steakhouse 200 at Phoenix Raceway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his dad had plenty to celebrate, as the younger Earnhardt clinched the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship even though there was still one race remaining in the season.

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RacingOne | 2011 RacingOne

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2000: Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his first premier series win in the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, breaking the record previously held by his father for fewest starts by a driver before earning his first victory in NASCAR's modern era, winning in just his 12th start.

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Donald Miralle

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2001: Dale Jr. shares a laugh with then-teammates Steve Park and Michael Waltrip at Rockingham Speedway.

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Donald Miralle

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2001: Dale Jr. celebrates with his crew in Daytona's Victory Lane after winning at the same track where his father died earlier in the year.

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Jamie Squire

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2001: Earnhardt Jr. also won at Talladega Superspeedway in the same year as his first Daytona win.

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Getty Images | 2002 Getty Images

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2002: Dale Jr. chats with Michael Waltrip at Pocono Raceway.

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Rusty Jarrett | 2003 Getty Images

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2003: In a photo taken 14 years ago, Earnhardt Jr. and future Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon share a few words in the Richmond garage.

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Robert Laberge | 2004 Getty Images

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2004: Earnhardt Jr. celebrates his first Daytona 500 win by spraying champagne in Victory Lane. Junior would go on to have the most productive season of his career, winning six races.

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Robert Laberge | 2004 Getty Images

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2004: Dale Earnhardt Jr. poses with his first (but not his last) Daytona 500 trophy.

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Al Messerschmidt

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2004: Junior and Kevin Harvick participate in pre-race ceremonies at Martinsville Speedway. Harvick was the one to fill the seat of the No. 3 after Earnhardt Sr.'s death, although the number changed to No. 29.

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Rusty Jarrett | 2005 Getty Images

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2004: Dale Jr. poses with the first 10-driver playoff class.

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Darrell Ingham | 2004 Getty Images

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2004: Dale Jr. celebrates his sixth win of 2004 -- the most wins in a season for his NASCAR Cup Series career -- at Phoenix Raceway.

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Rusty Jarrett | 2005 Getty Images

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2005: Dale Jr. talks with Matt Kenseth at Phoenix. Junior and Kenseth competed against each other for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award in 2000, with Kenseth as the eventual winner.

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Jason Smith | 2007 Getty Images

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2007: In his 43 years, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had the opportunity to meet a lot of big-name celebrities. Here's Earnhardt Jr. meeting six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan in Charlotte.

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Layne Murdoch | 2007 Getty Images

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2007: Dale Jr. speaks to the media as he announces his move from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports.

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John Harrelson | 2008 Getty Images

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2008: Dale Jr. celebrates in Daytona's Victory Lane after winning the Budweiser Shootout for the second time.

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Jonathan Daniel | 2008 Getty Images

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2008: Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates his first win at Michigan International Speedway, breaking a drought of 76 races without a victory.

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Chris Graythen | 2010 Getty Images

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2010: Earnhardt Jr. celebrates winning the first race with the new NASCAR Xfinity Series car at Daytona International Speedway, running the No. 3 Wrangler paint scheme that his father made famous. It would be the last time he would run the No. 3 car in a national series race.

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Tom Pennington | 2011 Getty Images

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2011: Dale Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte talk in the garage before the 2011 Daytona 500. This was Earnhardt Jr. and Letarte's first race together. After four years as Junior's crew chief, Letarte retired from the No. 88 pit box at the end of 2014.

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Jeff Zelevansky | 2012 Getty Images

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2012: Dale Earnhardt Jr., wife Amy and the No. 88 crew celebrate in Victory Lane after Junior earns his second win at Michigan and his first NASCAR Cup Series victory since 2008.

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Todd Warshaw | 2014 Getty Images

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2013: Dale Jr. made his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start at his home track of Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 2013 Bank of America 500.

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Tom Pennington | 2014 Getty Images

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2014: Ten years after his first Daytona 500 win, Dale Jr. scored another to open the 2014 season.

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Chris Trotman | 2014 NASCAR

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2014: The selfie to start all Victory Lane selfies. Dale Jr. poses with his Daytona 500 trophy and kicks off his Twitter use on the same night.

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Todd Warshaw | 2014 Getty Images

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2014: A Washington Redskins fan, Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets the privilege to meet the team's quarterback Robert Griffin III. 'RG3' was the pace car driver at the Richmond race that day.

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Chris Trotman | 2014 NASCAR

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2014: Dale Jr. celebrates in Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway after earning a career-first win at the track. Another would soon come.

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Tom Pennington | 2014 NASCAR

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2014: As if a career-first win at Pocono a few months earlier wasn't enough, Dale Jr. managed to sweep the 2014 races at the 'Tricky Triangle.'

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Getty Images

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2014: Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins in with Danica Patrick, Jamie McMurray and Jimmie Johnson as NASCAR President Mike Helton participates in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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Getty Images

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2015: Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated his first win with crew chief Greg Ives at Talladega Superspeedway in May.

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@DaleJr

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2015: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s trip to Germany resulted in his proposal to longtime girlfriend Amy Reimann. She said yes.

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Patrick Smith | 2015 Getty Images

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2015: The summer of 2015 produced another Daytona victory for Earnhardt, his fourth at the track.

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Brian Lawdermilk | NASCAR via Getty Images

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2015: For the inaugural throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, Dale Jr. honored Buddy Baker's Valvoline scheme in the Southern 500.

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Getty Images

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2015: Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all made the playoff field.

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Getty Images

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2015: Though he was eliminated from the 2015 playoffs after the Round of 12, Junior snagged one more win. His third victory of the season came at Phoenix the week before the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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Getty Images

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2016: Earnhardt Jr. notched four runner-up showings in the first 14 races of 2016 before getting out of the car midway through the season. Not feeling right, the driver visited his doctor and was diagnosed with a concussion-like symptoms, stemming from wrecks at Michigan and Daytona.

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Getty Images

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2016: Earnhardt Jr. was still smiling when he met with media members in August, his first press conference since being out of the car.

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Getty Images

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2016: What are friends for? The retired Jeff Gordon stepped in to fill races in the No. 88, along with Alex Bowman.

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@DaleJr

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2017: On New Year's Eve as the calendar turned from 2016 to 2017, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Amy Reimann were married.

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Getty Images

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2017: After missing the second half of the 2016 season and being cleared to return in December of 2016, Dale Jr. got behind the wheel of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at the Daytona 500.

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Photo by Mike Comer | Getty Images

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2017: Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced that 2017 would be his final season of full-time competition.

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Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

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2017: In what was likely his final race at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for the Coke Zero 400 -- his first pole since 2013.

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Photo by Jerry Markland | Getty Images

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2017: Dale Jr. announced he will join NBC as an analyst in 2018, joining Dale Jarrett (right) among others on the network's broadcast team.

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Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

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2017: Dale Earnhardt Jr. fittingly won the pole for what likely will be his final start at Talladega, a track synonymous with the Earnhardt name.

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Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway

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2017: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife, Amy, receive a unique baby gift from Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage.

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Twitter

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2017: Junior got some experience in the booth with the FOX broadcast team for The Clash in 2017.

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Paul Drinkwater | NBC

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2018: Dale Jr.'s work with NBC included events in the Winter Games in Pyeongchang as well as NBC's portion of the NASCAR schedule. His work with NBC continues and he hosts his own podcast "The Dale Jr. Download" which is simulcasted on NBCSN.

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Twitter: @DaleJr

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2018: Dale and Amy Earnhardt welcomed daughter Isla Rose to the world on April 30, 2018. The couple announced in 2020 that they are expecting a second child.

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Sean Gardner | Getty Images

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2019: Making his only NASCAR start of the year, Junior started 14th and finished fifth at Darlington in his No. 8 Hellmann's Throwback Chevrolet. He had finished fourth at Richmond in his lone 2018 Xfinity Series start.

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Chris Graythen | Getty Images

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2020: Earnhardt nearly added a new trophy to his virtual mantel, racing side-by-side with Denny Hamlin for the win in the inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Earnhardt was a weekly competitor in the series which lasted for seven races during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Chris Graythen | Getty Images

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2020: Earnhardt made his yearly Xfinity Series start at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June with a fifth-place finish. The following week he found out he was going to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

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