Car: #88 AMP/National Guard for Hendrick Motorsports in Sprint Cup Series
Born: October 10, 1974 in Kannapolis, N.C.

In the family: He is the son of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt and the grandson of Ralph Earnhardt, one of the early pioneers of the sport. His half-brother, Kerry Earnhardt, is also a part-time NASCAR driver.

Career highlights: Known as “Junior” or “Little E” to fans, Earnhardt Jr. is NASCAR’s most popular driver, known for his boyish charm and easygoing, frat-boy lifestyle. He is a favorite of corporate America, and easily outdistances any other driver when it comes to endorsement deals. He is also the sport’s most prominent bachelor, though he has no difficulty attracting women.

• Earnhardt began driving at age 17, competing in the Street Stock division at Concord Motorsport Park in North Carolina. Within two seasons, he had moved up to the Late Model Stock division, where he raced against his sister, Kelley, and half-brother, Kerry.

• In 1998, he moved up to the Busch Series (now Nationwide), and won the championship in his first season, a feat he repeated the following year, beating his good friend and rival Matt Kenseth each time.

• In 2000, Earnhardt fulfilled his birthright and moved up to the Cup series, capturing two wins and becoming the first rookie to win the mid-season All-Star race, though he finished second to Kenseth in the Rookie of the Year contest by just 42 points.

• In 2001, he finished second in the season-opening Daytona 500, but just behind him, tragedy struck. His father, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed when he crashed in the final corner of the final lap as he attempted to block the field so that Junior and Michael Waltrip – both of whom drove for Earnhardt Sr.’s team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. – could have a battle for the victory. The rest of the season was predictably tumultuous for Junior. He crashed in the first lap during the following race, but rebounded and won three races and finished eighth in the points.

• The high point of that season – and one of the high points in NASCAR history – occurred in July when the Nextel Cup returned to Daytona Speedway for the first time since Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed. Junior won the race, with Michael Waltrip finishing second in a Dale Earhardt Inc. car, and dedicated the victory to his late father.

• 2002 was an up-and-down season for Junior, largely because he suffered a concussion in an early-season race at California Speedway which affected his confidence behind the wheel. He was knocked unconscious in the accident, and the shot from the in-car camera of Junior slumped at the wheel sent a chill through the NASCAR community. He rebounded to win both races at Talladega – continuing his dominance at restrictor plate tracks – and finished 11th in the standings.

• 2003 was Junior’s breakout year. He again swept Talladega – making it a record four in a row – and won at Phoenix. He finished third in the points race, and won the Most Popular Driver award for the first time in his career.

• In 2004, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Daytona 500, exactly six years to the day of his father’s one and only victory in the “Great American Race.”

• Tragedy struck in July 2004 when Junior, during an off-weekend for the Nextel Cup Series, suffered a fiery crash while practicing for an American LeMans Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. The car burst into flames with Junior trapped inside. An in-car sensor showed that the temperature jumped from 115 degrees to 750 degrees in 2.5 seconds, before the sensor burned out. Junior was inside of the car for 14 seconds before finally pulling himself out of the ball of fire. He suffered second-degree burns on his chin, neck, and legs. But the eeriest part of the incident was what he would later tell journalist Mike Wallace on the television program 60 Minutes. Here’s an excerpt of the transcript:

Wallace: “Do you think your dad was watching you when you ran into trouble at Sonoma?”

Earnhardt Jr.: “Yeah, I mean, he would have to be. I think he had a lot to do with me getting out of that car. Absolutely. I don’t know how else to put it. I don’t want to put some weird psycho twist on it, like he was pulling me out or anything, but he had a lot to do with me getting out of that car. From the movement I made to unbuckle my belt, to laying on the stretcher, I have no idea what happened. How I got out.”

Wallace: “But what does your dad have to do with it?”

Earnhardt Jr.: “I don't have an explanation for it other than when I got into the infield care center, I had my PR man by the collar, screaming at him to find the guy that pulled me out of the car. He was like, ‘Nobody helped you get out.’ And I was like, ‘That's strange, because I swear somebody had me underneath my arms and was carrying me out of the car. I mean, I swear to God.”

Wallace: “And that was your dad?”

Earnhardt Jr.: “Yeah, I don't know. You tell me. It freaks me out today just talking about it. It just gives me chills.”

• He started the following two Cup races, but was replaced by teammates mid-race. He rebounded, winning both the Cup and Busch races at Bristol and qualified for the inaugural Chase for the Championship. During the Chase, he held the points race following his fifth career win at Talladega. The lead was brief, however, because he was penalized 25 points by NASCAR for using obscene language in a post-race interview (Junior was responding to a question about how it felt to win his fifth race at Talladega, to which he replied: “That don’t mean s***. Daddy won ten.”). He went on to suffer two DNF’s in the Chase and finish a disappointing fifth in the standings.

• 2004 was also notable for the fact that Junior experienced his first success as a car owner when Martin Truex Jr. won the Busch Series Championship in a car owned by Junior’s JR Motorsports. Truex repeated the feat in 2005.

• At the end of the 2004 season, Junior parted ways with his Tony Eury Sr. and Tony Eury Jr., his uncle and cousin, who had served as his crew chief and car chief throughout his Cup career. Eury Sr. took a management position with Dale Earnhardt Inc., while Eury Jr. became the crew chief for the other DEI car, driven by Michael Waltrip.

The move was a failure, as Junior had a horrific season in 2005. Pete Rondeau started the season as Junior’s crew chief, but was replaced by DEI’s chief engineer, Shane Hmiel, who helped Junior to his only victory of the year, at Chicagoland Speedway. When Junior failed to make the Chase for the Championship, he was reunited with his cousin, Tony Eury Jr., for the final 10 races of the year. He finished 19th in the standings, but won his third consecutive Most Popular Driver award.

2006 so far ... The Earnhardt Jr./Eury Jr. team got off to a good start in 2006, and is expected to once again make the Chase for the Championship and compete for the Nextel Cup. Jr has won one race so far this year at Richmond.