TALLADEGA, Ala. – With the retirement of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is without question the pre-eminent active restrictor-plate racer in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has won six times at Talladega Superspeedway, double the number of wins accumulated by second-place Brad Keselowski. He also has four Cup wins at Daytona, including two Daytona 500s.
But what makes Earnhardt so good at racing in the draft?
“One of the things that helped me a lot was when RCR (Richard Childress Racing) and DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) and (Andy) Petree formed the RAD racing program that was strictly dedicated to plate racing,” Earnhardt said. “And (crew chiefs) Tony (Eury) Sr. and Tony Jr., just by happenstance, happened to be very smart about what they needed out of their plate cars and how to work in some of the gray areas that a lot of people didn’t know about.
“Watching my dad (the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.), who was one of the best, I learned a tremendous amount because I solely watched him, whereas someone else who grew up around the sport may not have focused as much on one particular driver. All those things maybe helped me develop into maybe a better plate race car driver than the average guy.”
Dale Earnhardt Sr., of course, is the all-time victory leader at Talladega with 10. Junior qualified third Saturday for Sunday’s race.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
- NASCAR to debut new short track package at Phoenix - February 28, 2023
- The Wrench Who Stole Racing - December 16, 2022
- Matt DiBenedetto’s excellent run comes to abrupt, violent end - February 17, 2019
