Download This Sample
This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members!
To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download!
Sign Me Up
Table of Contents
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver and one of the most popular sports figures. He has an intrinsic ability in competitive driving as he came from a family connected to stock car racing. Combining that with hard work, passion, and his own competitive driving style made him not only a fan favorite but a respected competitor in the NASCAR series.
See the fact file below for more information on the Dale Earnhardt Jr. or alternatively, you can download our 27-page Dale Earnhardt Jr. worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
BIOGRAPHY AND EARLY LIFE
- Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. was born on October 10, 1974, in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
- He was the senior Dale Earnhardt’s son, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, and grandson of a race car driver Ralph Earnhardt. Car racing runs in the family as his sibling, uncle and half-brother were all race car drivers. His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee Sr., was a race car builder.
- His parents got divorced a few years after he was born. He and his sister Kelley lived with their mom, Brenda Jackson, for a while. However, after their mother’s house burned down, she had no choice but to give up her custody to their father as she could not support her children financially.
- The siblings went to live with their father and their stepmom, Teresa Houston, when Dale was six. As his dad and their stepmom were busy in their racing career, her sister took care of him.
- While growing up, he attended numerous schools, including a military school when he was in grade 7. His sister joined him a few months later.
- He and his half brother co-owned a 1979 Monte Carlo, which was junior’s first race car. He was finally able to attend the high-performance driving school run by Andy Hillenburg and started his racing career when he was 17.
EARLY CAREER
- Together with his father, he competed in the Street Stock division at North Carolina’s Motorsport Park. After two seasons, he was ready to join the Late Model Stock Car Division.
- He drove the No. 3 Buick competing on Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina and East Carolina Motor Speedway in Robersonville, North Carolina. On October 28, 1994, he captured the pole for the Greenville Merchants 300.
- While attending Mitchell Community College for an associate degree in automotive, he worked as a mechanic in his father’s dealership.
- Earnhardt Jr. competed in nine Busch Series races between 1996 and 1997 and won a consecutive championship in the same stock car racing series for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Inc in 1998 and 1999.
- He also debuted in the Winston Cup Series held at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan in 1998 and drove in five Winston Cup races in preparation for a full-time Cup Series ride in 2000. During this time, Budweiser sponsored Earnhardt Jr and he used no. 8, his grandfather’s number.
- The year 2000 of the Winston Car Series sealed Earnhardt Jr.’s driving career. He competed for the Raybestos NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award and got his first victory in the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
- Earnhardt Jr. competed with his father and half-brother, Kerry, in the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway, recreating one Winston Cup 2000 milestone, only the second time that a father had raced against his two sons. The 2000 season gave Earnhardt two wins, three Top 5s, five Top 10s, and two poles.
AFTER THE TRAGEDY
- In February 2001, a devastating tragedy happened while Earnhardt Jr. was racing to the finish line in the 2001 Daytona 500 final lap. Earnhardt Sr. crashed on turn four after Sterling Marlin made contact with his left rear bumper. He was declared dead at 5:16 pm due to a basilar skull fracture.
- The fans blamed Marlin, but Earnhardt Jr. asked the fans to stop the blaming as the local police and NASCAR investigations cleared Marlin of any involvement.
- In April of 2002, Earnhardt Jr. endured a concussion from a head-on-collision to the California race’s outside wall. He did not admit it until mid-September and continued to compete where he finished no better than 30th in the three races following the collision.
- Junior recovered and became a true title contender. After being involved in a 27-car crash, he scored a record-breaking four consecutive wins at Talladega.
- Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 in 2004. He also won his Gatorade Duel and Series race. However, during the summer off-weekend on July 18, while he was practicing for the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway, Earnhardt crashed a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R.
- The car ruptured a fuel line causing the vehicle to burst into flames while he was inside. He was not wearing a protective balaclava with his helmet resulting in a second and third-degree burn on his neck, chin, and legs and this prevented him from finishing two races.
- At NASCAR 10-race playoff, Earnhardt Jr. reached a career-high in his 5th NEXTEL Cup win of the 2004 season at Talladega.
- However, 25 points were deducted from him for using obscene language during a television broadcast, which violates a NASCAR rule.
MOVING TO HENDRICK
- In 2008, Earnhardt moved to Hendrick Motorsports from Dale Earnhardt Inc., his father’s company. He signed a five-year contract on July 13, 2007.
- The decision was based on his desires to achieve a Sprint Cup Championship, which he did not believe he would achieve with his former company. Junior thought his stepmother was blocking any improvement he was advocating for at the company.
- Earnhardt did not take the no. 8 with him to Hendrick’s after his stepmother asked for part of the licensing revenue and wanted the number to return to DEI when he retired. He moved to no. 88 instead and drove Mountain Dew AMP/ National Guard Chevrolet Impala for the 2008 season.
- He started the 2008 season by winning his first race for Hendrick in the Budweiser Shootout. Five days later, he won his third Gatorade Duels.
- After breaking his 76-race winless streak in Michigan International Speedway, he went back to Talladega Superspeedway for the AMP Energy 500. He was on his way to winning before being caught up in “The Big One” late in the race.
- Earnhardt Jr. continued driving in different NASCAR races, although critics said that his winnings during the last half of his full-time driving career were not enough to deserve the admiration and status he enjoys.
- One of the significant victories he had late in his career was his big win in the 2014 Daytona 500, a decade after his first.
- He also had a few setbacks, such as sitting out the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas and the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte because of a concussion he got after the 25 car crash on the last lap at Talladega October 7, 2012.
EARLY RETIREMENT
- On April 25, 2017, after a string of lackluster finishes, Earnhardt decided to retire from driving full time due to health and personal reasons. His mother also coaxed him to retire because of the number of concussions he had already suffered.
- For 15 straight years, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was awarded NASCAR’s most popular driver, from 2003 – 2017. He had 26 career victories, including two from Daytona 500, and 13 pole positions.
- Presently, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a co-owner of JR Motorsports, a NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series team. The other owner is his sister, Kelley. His mother also worked here as an accountant before she died.
- In 2016, Earnhardt became a guest analyst in NASCAR Cup and Xfinity race broadcasts on Fox and NBC. Two years later, he joined the NASCAR on NBC broadcasting team as a color commentator for the 2018 season and coined the catchphrase “Slide job!” describing Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson’s battle for the lead on the final lap.
- He owns the media production company Hammerhead Entertainment and co-owns two restaurants in North Carolina and FilterTime. He has a signature line of eyeglass frames, partnering with NY Eye Inc. and entered the automobile dealer business.
- He appeared in films, lent his voice to movies and television, hosted a radio show, and appeared in several music videos.
- Dale Earnhardt married Amy Reinman on New Year’s Eve of 2016 in Lexington, North Carolina. They have two daughters named Isla Rose and Nicole Loraine.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Dale Earnhardt Jr. across 27 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Dale Earnhardt Jr. worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is an American professional stock car racing driver and one of the most popular sports figures. He has an intrinsic ability in competitive driving as he came from a family connected to stock car racing. Combining that with hard work, passion, and his own competitive driving style made him not only a fan favorite but a respected competitor in the NASCAR series.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. Facts
- Life of a Racer
- Race of the Fact or Bluff
- The Racer’s Team
- Filling the Track
- The Earnhardt Family
- The Earnhardt Inquiry
- Dale Jr.’s Wisdom
- The Earnhardt Numbers
- Battle of Racing
- Junior Wins
Link/cite this page
If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.
Link will appear as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, January 26, 2021
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.