All Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed was a chance to prove he could win in stock cars.
Turns out, he was a natural — on and off the track.
Now the longtime fan favorite and two-time Daytona 500 winner will join his famous, late father in NASCAR’s Hall of Fame after being selected as one of three members of the 2021 class. The other inductees are Red Farmer and the late Mike Stefanik. Ralph Seagraves was chosen as the Landmark Award winner.
Earnhardt Jr. received 76% of the votes in his first appearance on the ballot.
“My wife was here, my family, my sister, so surrounded by a lot of close folks,” he said on NBCSN’s announcement show. “It was great to see my face pop up on the screen.”
Being an Earnhardt certainly provides some advantages.
His grandfather, Ralph, was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1997 and was selected as one of the 50 greatest drivers in NASCAR history in 1998.
Junior’s father also made that list. The Intimidator reached victory lane 76 times, winning a record-tying seven Cup championships and hordes of fans with his fearless style. And when Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, many of his fans started rooting for his engaging son.
Earnhardt Jr. also got his first big break in 1998 when he raced full-time in the Busch Series — for his dad. He took full advantage by winning back-to-back series titles in 1998 and 1999 before posting his first two Cup wins as a rookie in 2000.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett announced he has tested positive for COVID-19 and now is in quarantine.
The 63-year-old Jarrett broke the news during NASCAR’s Hall of Fame announcement, explaining that’s why he did not return to NBCSN’s studio with the other hosts.
The three-time Daytona 500 winner and 1999 Cup champion said the only symptom he had was a slight cough and that he was doing well.
“I’ve been one of the very fortunate ones that my symptom has only been a slight cough throughout all of this and it’s really getting less and less each day, so I’m doing very, very well,” Jarrett said. “All I can say is follow all the guidelines stay as safe as you possibly can and hopefully we can all get through this in the very near future.”
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