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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 13: (EDITOR’S NOTE: Image was processed using digital filters.) Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 13: (EDITOR’S NOTE: Image was processed using digital filters.) Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Recently, NASCAR driver Erik Jones appeared on the Dale Jr Download. The two talked about various subjects and eventually, they touched upon the topic of family. Chiefly, they spoke about their fathers and how much they influenced their youths. Jones had recently read actor Matthew McConaughey’s book, where he spoke about losing his father. He told Dale Earnhardt Jr that a father’s passing is like losing ‘the law above the law’.
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Dale Jr then confessed, “I’ve tried to explain that to people. When my dad passed away, I felt this weird sense of being free. I’ve hesitated to share that because I don’t want people to think that I was happy. I was free from some bind as a child and with a living parent, you’re fenced. You’ve got the bumpers right? They are the guiding rule to everyday, and then they’re gone.”
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Dale Earnhardt Jr carved out a niche for himself, out of his dad’s shadow
The late great Dale Earnhardt is undoubtedly regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all-time. So when Dale Earnhardt Jr eventually joined the party, many great things were expected of him. The bad news was that Dale Jr failed to replicate the on-track success that his father enjoyed. However, he did rack up 26 career Cup Series wins, including two Daytona 500 wins.
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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 30: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Hellmann’s Chevrolet, stands in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway on August 30, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
This is quite possibly the only statistic that he has defeated his father in. Aside from all that, he is a two-time Xfinity Series champion. Dale Earnhardt Jr even has his own Xfinity Series team, which has been very successful. Finally, he has been voted as the Most Popular Driver for 15 consecutive years, and is a Hall of Famer. However, it is away from the race track, where he truly made an impact. Dale Jr has pretty much been one of the faces of NASCAR and has helped promote it a lot.
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WATCH THIS STORY: Dale Earnhardt Jr Provides Much-Needed Clarification on Victim Jordan Anderson’s Burns to a Confused NASCAR Audience
