Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Profile Overview

Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974), also known as "Dale Jr" or simply "Junior", is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, broadcaster for Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports, podcaster, and businessman. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative to many former and current drivers in the NASCAR ranks. Since retiring from full-time competition after the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season, he has competed in select NASCAR Xfinity Series and CARS Late Model Stock Tour races, driving for JR Motorsports, a team of which he is a founder and co-owner of and which bears his namesake.
He became a color commentator for NASCAR on NBC in 2018 after retiring from driving full-time in NASCAR. After his contract with NBC expired after the 2023 season, he left for Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports as part of new NASCAR coverage in NASCAR's next TV contract that began in 2025.
Earnhardt Jr. drove the No. 8 Budweiser-sponsored Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI), his father's team in the NASCAR Cup Series, from his debut in 1999 until 2007. In 2008, he moved to Hendrick Motorsports to drive their No. 88 car. He remained with Hendrick until his last season as a full-time driver in 2017. Earnhardt has 26 wins in the Cup Series, a total that ranks him tied (with Fred Lorenzen) for 33rd in NASCAR history as of April 2026. He is a two-time champion of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, winning in 1998 and 1999 when the series was known as the Busch Series.
Earnhardt's success at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway throughout his career earned him the nickname "the Pied Piper". He is a two-time Daytona 500 winner (2004 and 2014), and won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award fifteen consecutive times from 2003 to 2017.