How Good Was Dale Earnhardt Jr.? 

What driver/drivers would you want me to look more in depth in like this in the future?

In interviews Jr admits he wasnt as sharp and focused during his Budweiser years (a lot of partying!), but then during his Hendrick years he was dogged by concussions. It's a shame because I dont think we EVER got to see his true potential as a driver. Thankfully he is absolutely filling his potential as an ambassador to the fans and to the sport.

The way we know Dale Jr now is 1. The multiple wins he had at DEI 2. The impressive 2014 Run he had 3. His famous quote "SLIDE JAWB"

*STORY TIME* (As per usual lol) Dale Earnhardt Jr in my opinion always has been severely maligned and skewed in the eyes of fans because of his father, his untimely passing and personally his circumstance is 100% unique. I personally feel like the fans that are all naysayers about him are those that throw out the "He wasnt his daddy, he wasnt as good as his daddy and he was handed everything because of his daddy" excuse. Yeah, I mean sure his dad did win 7 Winston Cup titles, 76 races and is considered to be one of the greatest NASCAR drivers to ever walk the face of the Earth. Dale Jr didnt achieve 7 titles, 76 wins and all that. But no matter how you perceive it, Dale Sr's career is still a Mount Everest type of feat that 95% of other Cup drivers (regardless of name) will probably never eclipse. That said, in my opinion it is SO DAMN UNFAIR and UNJUST to Dale Jr for a fan to say "Well he wasn't his daddy, wasn't as good as his daddy, he sucks". That kind of thoughtless, ignorant statement is perfect example and shows fully of what is wrong with so many NASCAR fans. Spouting off at the mouth with little regard as to actually having proof of something all because it makes you "look badass because you have such an impassioned opinion and you will NOT be swayed!". Dale Jr has said so many times after his passing that he isn't his dad and he never wanted to be like his dad. So right off the bat with that kind of statement, you are setting yourself up for failure and in my opinion, you are only making a buffoon out of yourself. Dale Jr was a good driver. Yes okay, he doesnt have a Cup championship? Neither does Denny Hamlin (as of 7/30/20 as I type this) or Mark Martin and they are highly regarded as pretty great drivers right? Okay how about we go in line with his 26 Cup wins? Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd, Benny Parsons, Greg Biffle, Buddy Baker, Davey Allison all have LESS Cup wins than Dale Jr. Some got championships, some do not. But I mean SURELY nobody talks negatively about Ricky Rudd or Greg Biffle like they do Dale Jr right? Ricky Rudd and Greg Biffle were some pretty good drivers no? Hell Carl Edwards only has 2 more wins than Jr and exactly the same amount of titles, 0. I dont think anyone talks negatively about Carl Edwards as a driver (minus the crap with Brad K) right? So why all the animosity against Dale Jr? Oh, because "He wasn't his daddy" right? Remove the dark tinted Gargoyles and look at Dale Jr and ONLY Dale Jr for whom he was as a driver and personality. Take his dad entirely out of the picture and let that man rest for once. Dale Jr, without the shadow of his father looming over him, was a pretty good driver. The fact that he struggled with so many concussions through his career and still achieved what he did, I can only imagine and wish what he could have accomplished without them. His persona, that "Easy going, everybody's best friend with the Carolina twang" is what only helped build Dale Jr as his OWN identity, not his fathers, and grew him into the legend we all know and love today. By the way, all of this is said from someone who was and still is an "across the isle" lifer Jeff Gordon fan who, in fact, could have every right to theoretically agree with those nimrod fans and say "Oh Dale Jr didn't win 93 races and 4 championships, he sucked". Remove his father's shadow and you'll see that indeed facts are facts and stats are in black and white. There's no trickery or tomfoolery to be had here. Dale Jr was a good driver. Period.

I’d say 26 wins is a pretty respectable career, that’s more than the Labonte’s and the late Benny Parsons who each have at least one championship

“Name a NASCAR driver” Me: “Quin Houff”

I have a lot of respect for Jr. To grow up living in his father's shadow, and still carve out such a following is incredible. Some might say unprecedented. His podcast just gets better and better. I really wish I had become a Jr. Fan sooner, but I really didn't start being a fan of his until after he retired.

Dale Jr was a great driver on the track. But most of his influence was made off the track

I attended the Darlington race with my father for anyone who cares.

People consider him one of the greatest not because of his results, but because of how much he has done for the sport. It’s not just stats that make you a hall of famer.

I'd say Junior ended up becoming pretty good, but injuries, mainly concussions and poor team management on the DEI side and unfortunate circumstances(Hint:Teresa Earnhardt and the crew swap) robbed him of reaching that upper echelon of championship drivers, then he got back to form around 2014 and showed he still had some left in the tank at Hendrick. Had he not had the concussions and unfortunate circumstances we may be looking at a different career here. His career numbers are very similar to Davey Allison's(Both have Daytona 500 wins and Pepsi 400 wins, both have back-to-back Phoenix wins and both posted wins at Michigan and they were both masters of Talladega but Junior has more wins). The only track that Jr. could never get ahold of is Darlington, his father won there a lot but Junior never could master it. Junior also had an impact off the race track too, he helped many drivers get to the Cup level in the Busch Series with his team. What I respect about him the most is that he is true to himself, he's been a great spokesman for NASCAR and helped bring it to different demographics. Junior was great in his own right, he didn't have to win 7 titles or be an 'Intimidator', he just wanted to be a regular guy who raced cars for a living much like his father's persona when he raced.

I really feel like if dale sr didn’t die when he did and kept DEI up and running then dale jr would have been a championship contender almost every year

I think the simple fact that while it is NASCAR’s minor league Dale Jr can strap into a Xfinity car after being away for a year and contend for top 5’s and wins tells all about his talent

Gotta give Dale Jr credit, he straight up dominated the restrictor plate tracks back in the early 2000s. Never will forget that

I absolutely love him, he's my all time favorite. I've been struggling to find a driver ever since he retired. of course, since he retired, he's on tv which is great and his podcast is so much better than when he was driving. I like his appreciation for NASCAR history. Something a lot of people overlook is how many young drivers he has helped over the years.

I mean the guy lost his dad his boss the guy who kept him straight and was plagued by bad luck and nasty crashes.

While I've been a Earnhardt fan ever since I've been watching the sport, I have to admit that he is quite overrated, but he has a amazing personality and seems like a kickass guy to hang out with and grab a drink with. LONG LIVE JUNEBUG!!

Hes one of my favorites because he was good, and a true ambassador of the sport, during shutdown, he championed IRacing just to keep eyes on Nascar. He didnt have to do it, but he loves it. That's what it's all about, giving back to the sport of auto racing.

I’m a Jr. fan and I pulled for him in races. Imo he was a decent driver that got a lot of bad luck, the majority of his popularity came from his name, and that’s the truth.

Considering he watched his father get killed in his rear view mirror, dealt with concussions through 1999 to the end of his career, had a wicked step mother that separated him from his dads company that’s rightfully his, and then DEI falling off and to the COT car. He has said in his podcast the COT car was the worst driving car he ever drove, the car didn’t fit his driving style. After DEI he had terrible crew chiefs until Steve Letarte. Then the last concussion took him out. The man has suffered through more pain, emotional loss, wicked/ betrayed family, and a terrible driving team/car. GIVE THE MAN A BREAK!

I think another important factor that was overlooked was his 2013 campaign. Despite not getting a win that year, under the newer championship format in 2014, he would’ve actually advanced to the final 4 at Homestead and won the title with a 3rd place finish. Had that new format been instituted one year sooner, he might’ve won a championship. Not a prime example, but it does show his consistency that year, which I think also led to his increased performance in 2014 & 2015. That solid results year and chase performance laid a nice foundation for his renewed success

As a 40 year old Aussie who was introduced to NASCAR by my late father in the 90's but never really got into it back then as i was more into the GTR's destroying Bathurst at the time, but after discovering your channel as well as SlapShoes I've become fascinated by Stock Car Racing history. Im binging on the Dale Jnr Download podcast every single day and its incredible. His love for the Sport and its history is what really comes across to me as someone new to it all and i absolutely love it He's the Great Ambassador of NASCAR, his Father would be immensely Proud of the Man he is today

Dale jr: sticks his tongue out Jr nation: *shatters* *glass* *in* *empire* *state* *building*

Honestly he is kind of overrated at least in the cup series Xfinity tho he is a beast

Someone should count how many of Jaret's videos have a mention of Dale Jr

His Legacy at Talladega Enshrined him as one of the Greats in my opinion 6 Time winner with 4 in a Row 2 time Daytona 500 Champion 26 Total Wins and 2 Busch Championships Given the circumstances he had a solid Career

He might have no cup championships (thanks Teresa) but at least he has 2 Daytona 500’s. Since his dad has 1 Daytona 500 the combining Sr’s and Jr’s Daytona 500 wins makes 3

Ok Dale Earnhardt Jr was a good driver, but let’s be real, he wasn’t as good as Uncle Chris Fontaine

Admittedly a Jr fan & defender, I think he belongs in the HoF and toward the lower end of the top 50 of NASCAR drivers of all time. If we're talking just restrictor plate racers, he's #2 behind his dad w/an argument to be made for Gordon being #2 or #3. However, like you pointed out, Jr's popularity and his commitment to growing and making the sport better than when he found it is almost unmatched. All of his Most Popular Driver Awards have to account for something but I truly believe he's a modern day Junior Johnson as an owner (w/help from Hendrick of course.) Bringing talent along like Truex Jr, Kesselowski, Byron, Elliott, etc through JR Motorsports (shout out to Kelley Earnhardt here too!) shows that he is dedicated to staying with the sport for a long time. That's not even bringing into the conversation his announcing job OR his multimedia impact with the Dale Jr Download, etc.

I always felt like Dale Jr was a modern day version of Buddy Baker.

2 Busch/XFinity titles back to back, 26 wins on the cup side (two Daytona 500s) and a Xfinity Champion car owner and a great eye for talent....it ain’t nothin to sneeze at....when he goes into the NASCAR Hall it will be well deserved.....also less we forget he coined the term “It’s Bristol Baby” I hope Bristol pays him for that

Dale Jr: *Breathes* Fans: Sound barrier break time

It's always easy to say retrospectively, but concussions really do have a massive effect on drivers, you can see it now with JJ and his fall, I've seen it tons of times with sprint car drives who were great young stars that some troubling wrecks and never really had that winning power they did before.

I feel like his early success is both the main reason for his popularity as well as the disappointment and the hordes of people calling him 'overrated' in the second half of his career. I think the dominance in the Busch Series (as it was called) and the storybook wins (particularly the Pepsi 400) created a lot of interest in Junior, he is probably responsible for drawing more people to the sport than any other driver in NASCAR history, other than, perhaps, his father. The fact the Junior did not follow up those storybook wins with a championship and the underwhelming seasons early on at Hendrick caused a lot more people to discredit Junior, even after he has retired and put up numbers that would be respected and not debated if his name was 'Bob Smith.' Another issue with the 'he got everything handed to him from his dad' argument is the lack of upper level success for Kerry, Jeffery, etc. Dale Jr would not have gotten anything from his father without proof of talent. That's just not how Dale worked. There was legitimate talent there. Also, when you compare his struggles to, say, Danica Patrick, makes the overrated argument more difficult to stomach. Do I think Junior was Elite? No. He clearly is not in the same tier as Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, even Kyle Busch. But to pretend he didn't do some incredible things in his career and that he was this massive flop, is just ignoring the facts.

Junior may not have the impressive stats, but he’s done the impressive impact on everyone...

I think he was overrated, but still a solid driver among the likes of Kurt Busch, but slightly worse.

I think the death of his father, the injuries (concussions, burns, etc.), and the pressure of being Dale Earnhardt. Sr.'s son all got to him. You can say what you will, but I can imagine that it was, or still is difficult for Jr. to deal with the untimely passing of his father, making things worse was how it happened. Then, you throw in the burns he sustained in a wreck in an ALMS car, concussions, and various things that required time out of the car... I'd imagine that during those periods he got into his own head. But the most important thing is the pressure to be as good as his father. In this sense, I think he and Kyle Petty (and if Adam had survived) have a lot in common. Their fathers were the best ever, and people generally heaped expectations on them to be as good or better. Something that they couldn't do. But the responses by Jr. in some instances were to not try (something he admitted to), to push too much or otherwise self-sabotage. Was Jr. a great driver, as a fan I want to say that he was. Being realistic, he had a pretty good career, and looking at the list of Cup Winners, there are some big names and champions he has more wins than. That actually surprised me as I thought some of these drivers won more than they actually did.

Jr was extremely overrated. He got given everything to win a title and never done it.

He was a top 5-6 driver of his era for sure. Possibly could have won a title had he left DEI earlier. A lot of the younger guys in today's sport who struggle to win on a consistent basis would be thrilled to end up with this career(Elliott, Blaney). Probably better suited for today's playoff format vs the old winston or nextel format. Was always my guy through thick and thin

Did really good for how much pressure he probably had on him, especially the first years of his cup career. Him opening the door for taking concussions seriously is his biggest impact

As a Dale Jr. Fan, and someone who has met him, this video was very objective and you did a nice job in not being biased.

the pied piper's best chance at the championship was in 2003 & 2004. still love the guy so much😅

My first race I watched was the 2004 Daytona 500. Been watching ever since. He was my driver since his retirement, so now I go for Ryan Blaney.

Here before RC RACER 88

Good Driver (Better than 80-90% of all the drivers ever to race in the series), not great driver compared to the best. He's a cool guy, but if not for his popularity and influence, he wouldn't be a hall of famer. Also, he deserves credit for a great resurrgence between 2012-2015 to end his career after really falling apart for a few years there (especially 2009 when he finsihed 25th in points and his teammates 1-2-3 in points). All and all, nothing to hang his head about. Should be proud.

I think the driver is half the story. The crew chief Jr. had during his career can also tell a story. Tony Eury Sr : 2000-2004 - Helped Jr. win a bunch. The pair was very good together. 2005 was a weird year: He had three crew chiefs, one of which was Eury Jr. Tony Eury Jr: 2006-2009 - This was during DEI downfall so not promising here. When he went to Hendrick he found decent success so great Chief there. Lance McGrew: 2010 - I think this guy was the main reason Jr had a terrible season. The two never really clicked. Steve Letarte: 2011-2014 - I think he played a major role in Dale's resurgence, really smart guy and it shows in the NBC broadcasts. Greg Ives: 2015-2017 - Got two wins in 2015 but this is when concussions were really starting to effect Junior's driving.

I do think there was another major factor with Dale Jr. not winning the 2004 title. His burn injuries. I feel like needing a substitute driver for the New Hampshire and Pocono races was a big factor.

We will never know but I have always wondered how losing his dad at a critical time might have impacted his career. My dad was my hero and I got to enjoy my dad longer than Jr. enjoyed Big E. Still, I was lost for a while when my dad passed. It absolutely changed the trajectory of my life in terms of attitude and took years to find peace.

I been watching nascar since 2001 and didn't find a favorite driver until 2003 which was Dale earnhardt jr. I think you nailed everything in the video. Jr could've won so many more races and probably a championship had it not been for terrible luck or something of his doing. Some behind the scenes decisions kinda messed things up as well like swapping the 8 and the 15 teams in 2005. I know that wasn't jr decision but I wish he would've spoken up to Teresa and told her to keep the teams the same. His 2005 season probably would've better than his 04 season had he kept his 2004 team. When I look back on dale jr career he had a opportunity to win at least one race every year. Even during his crappy years (2009 and 2010) he competed for a win or two at least. People love to look at statistics and see 0 wins in a season but ignore laps led, average finish or just forget about the unfortunate luck. I look at 2008 and 2013 for example. Really good seasons for jr but had unfortunate luck during those seasons as well. Jr had a lot of winning race cars during those two seasons but something would always happen to prevent him from winning. He got that 1 win in 2008 at Michigan on fuel mileage but that should've been one of like 5 or 6 wins that season for him. He also lead damn near 1000 that season as well. In my opinion you can rank dale earnhardt jr right next to mark Martin and junior Johnson. He just didn't have the amount of wins those two guys had but he should've though if it wasn't for all the misfortune in his cup career.

I mean to me he was decent I wouldn’t say he was the best ever and will go in the history books as an all time great but he was had a good career

I got into NASCAR after Dale Jr. appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast, and coming from that newbie perspective, all I can say is that Jr's personality and total honesty are off the charts - he has charisma and charm in spades, and the best thing about him is the fact that he has absolutely no idea how much money he has. None whatsoever. He is one of the most endearing athletes in the entire world of sports. People understand that his father, although arguably the greatest NASCAR driver after Richard Petty, was kind of an asshole who didn't give his children very much in terms of attention. I mean, he only started showing love to his son after Jr. started winning in the Xfinity series, and like come on, so now that your son is winning, you love him? That's the worst kind of parenting. Conditional love. Well, Jr. overcame that and the image he projects to the world is, again, one of the most endearing in all of professional sports. He is a total outlier, and super special, and he got voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame the first time his name appeared on the ballot. Oh, and let's not forget how much WOMEN LOVE DALE JR. They adore him. They all want to marry him.

I’ve been a jr fan since 2008 since that’s when I got into nascar. I liked him cause he didn’t drive like his dad. Sr was and is one of the greatest drivers of all time but let’s be honest he had wrecked a lot of guys on the track. Some were racing incidents and some were him straight out wrecking people. Jr did get into stuff like that but a lot fewer times than his dad. Even the ones he did intentionally wreck he’d say that he shouldn’t have done that or that wasn’t what he wanted. In my opinion jr showed a lot of driving skill. I remember when I check on a race I’ll look and see what position he was at in the race he was almost always in the top ten or top 15. I dropped outa nascar for little bit when he retired now I’m getting back into it. Jr will always be my favorite

His influence was more off of the track. In Cup he was pretty decent, Busch/Xfinity was his proving ground. He isn't in the Hall of Fame due to him ripping up the cup series, it's the back to back Xfinity titles and what he has done as an owner and ambassador

As far as that talladega race... It just showed you how great and special he was at talladega.... He put himself being several times but still drove it up to the front. The most impressive thing was watching him literally drive up to the front with no help.. The cars were in 1 long line and I'm sitting here watching him pull out one by one and pass them with no draft help... He definitely should've won that race no doubt though.... Thanks Harvick

I'm a Harvick fan after Sr. passed but I still pulled for Dale Jr. His dad really didn't teach him anything about racing. According to Jr. they never talked about it. Which is pretty crazy but I believe it. Which mean his talent on the racetrack really was from within himself after getting the opportunity.

He’s also helped bring up a lot of current cup series drivers, such as Chase Elliott, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, MTJ, Brad Keselowski, and Alex Bowman.

one important detail that is overlooked about when he was put in to Busch... He was just thrown in the car at Daytona and his dad told him don't lift. He was a natural talent right off the start

I think one difference between Jr and the best of the best is their ability to still get good results with a car that isn’t handling the way they like it. They could change their driving style to match what the car would give them. Jr was great when the car was perfect. But I remember multiple times listening to him complain on the radio and plummet through the order, whereas some of the others would complain but still manage a better finish. That said I have a lot of respect for him. Having Sr as a father is a blessing and a curse, and overall he has handled himself very well.

JUNIOR NATION WHERE YOU AT?

2004 Talladega race he was actually docked 150 points total so that would have been enough for him to have taken the cup that year

Dale Jr. is the kind of guy that I probably would pull for every once in a while, but dreaded whenever he won due to his fanbase. He's definitely a great driver though.

That Atlanta one hurt’s me so much

His stats rival that of Ricky Rudd. And considering he ran many less races that's pretty impressive to me.

Here before rc racer 88 starts going on and on about dale jr

My dad worked at Sr’s Chevy dealership in NC back in the 90s. He told me about how he watched Jr start to get into workin on cars, blew my mind as a kid

well.. it dont mean s#!% right now -Dale jr. in front of millions

Dale Jr. could’ve accomplished more if it wasn’t for his split with Tony Eury Sr. and eventually his split with DEI (but we all know why). That, and the bad luck and the numerous concussions.

The biggest thing I think about Dale jr is around the time of the COT he changed his driving style, he changed from a normal hand position on the wheel of 10 and 2, to Mark Martin’s style of pulling the wheel down with his left hand and crossing over the right hand to be next to his left hand, in other words both hands in the same area of the wheel. Problem is Mark used that because he’s short and had to have the extra leverage in a era without power steering. What that style does is limit the ability to react to a loose car, that’s why you never see that style in dirt racing. Not only did Jr lose reaction time by doing that but also some car feel. In old in-cars he is driving the hell out of the car, in his later ones it looks like he’s just riding around.

if he coulda avoided 1 or 2 of his hard wrecks, also could have turned like 15-20 of the top 5s into wins, also by avoidong 2 of the wrecks he would still be driving, no telling what would have happened, still a class act and a great dude and love hearing him in the booth!

He was popular because he was 3's son and he was cool, had a great personality. He is not an HOF driver though. Love the guy. He's the Steve Garvey of NASCAR. Almost an HOF'er but not quite there.

Good Busch series champ. An above Average driver in cup not great, great plate racer but his name and influence off the track was way higher.

Jr in my opinion was a Career let down. Most popular driver for about 20 years no championships fame was because of his dad. I do not think Jr deserved the love he got

Quite possibly the most underachieving and overrated driver of all time. And I love the guy.That said he is wayyyy better than Kyle Petty.

People like to argue that Dale Jr doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame because of his cup career,which was still pretty good but,people need to remember it is the NASCAR Hall of Fame meaning all NASCAR series. This may be an unpopular opinion but Austin Dillon,Tyler Reddick,Matt Crafton and Ricky Stenhouse Jr have already earned their places in the Hall of Fame. They’re all multi-time champions in some of NASCAR’s premier series. And they have wins. Even though they have no cup championships yet or have a ton of cup wins, they’ve establish themselves in some of NASCAR’s top series.

please do Carl Edward and mark Martin I think they are extremely underrated drivers

If we want a different president/ceo/owner of NASCAR, it better be Dale Jr. Why you might say, he understands what should and not be in motorsports. Name bunch of different problems like the yellow line rule, Exhibition race formats, the aero package, and etc. But looking in 2015, if NASCAR remained with 2011 Chase format, he would of competed for the championship at Homestead but his luck would run out due to lap 47 crash.

Doesn't matter how good you are. That many head injuries is too much to overcome. We did not know it at the time, but this was a huge reason for his fall off. Not to mention catching on fire in a corvette on the road course.

Approximately 3,050 drivers have competed in at least 1 race in the cup series from 1949 till now. There have been approximately 198 drivers to win 1 cup race or more which is .06% (less than 1% of all people that have competed in the cup series have won a race. JR is ranked in the top 35 of all time winners. I dont care what people say, you have to have talent to win, much less be in the top 35 of all time winners.

He’s my favorite driver and I haven’t watched yet, so let’s see how this goes

Personally, I believe the ceiling for Dale Jr’s God gifted talent would be 40 wins, two cup championships, and two more runner ups

I've always loved Dale Jr since his rookie season

Great points. I'm an Earnhardt fan as well and have been watching NASCAR since 1995. Jr definitely had some self inflicted wounds. I think the single biggest factor was concussions. Not only did he miss the races but he drove a ton of races with concussion symptoms where he wasn't mentally sharp based on his own testimony now. This is a subjective opinion but I think if he didn't have head trauma he'd be sitting around 40-something wins. It was great watching his career though. A true tale of hot and cold streaks.

I think after that road course wreck in the corvette is what changed his desire and hunger to push the car to its limits to win like he previously had. Also the way that Theresa was running DEI what shoulda been his and Kelly's into the ground and him having to leave the company his dad died blocking for.

98-00 he was badass dominated the Bucsh series and I rooted for him he is close to my age and his Dad looks and acts like my Father and they r the same age. It's no secret he raced to make his Father proud and get his attention. 2001 he had serious thoughts about quitting sorta lost that drive. In 2002 he had a major concussion in Fontana and I can tell u from experience they will slow u down and you might be the same but your coordination never is really as sharp as it used to be. That Atlanta fall race 2004 still hurts he won the spring race there but all he had to do was finish top 5 and would have a big points lead and attitude going into final races despite them taking points for his Shit slip.

Jr with his dad at DEI sorting the equipment AND offering advice (especially as he stopped racing fulltime) meant championships for Jr. His best years where wasted at DEI after Dale's death. Great driver, ruined by injury and left without the person who really could have elevated him to next step.....

Nobody ever mentions Sonoma. I will since I think he was different after that crash. I think some of his edge was tempered for quite a while. But nonetheless I still love the guy even with all of flubs. It never mattered that he had a famous Dad, both regular guys. I also think it's refreshing having heard him talk about his career recently, he doesn't seem to have any regrets and feels really lucky to have been a Nascar driver and make it out without permanent injury.

I see comments saying that if Dale Sr didn’t die, Dale Jr would have won a championship, but without Senior’s death NASCAR wouldn’t get safer. With all the hard wrecks Junior suffered, without the safety, would lead to worst concussions or worse…

He wasn't as good as Dale Sr, but... then again, no one was, really. Absolutely a top tier driver, and an even greater personality.

Dale Jr had 26 Cup wins...let's add a little perspective to that. Terry Labonte had 22 wins and 2 Championships, while his brother Bobby had 21 wins and 1 Championship. When you win more races than a couple brothers that have 3 Championships between them...you did something right. Not to mention he ran a helluva lot less races than they did.

Dale Earnhardt is famous because his grateful and awesome legend father but the question is why didn’t he got a 3 Daytona 500 win and a championship

He was plagued by spotty equipment and concussions. He wasn't silver spoon like a lot of people tried to say. The 1st time his father ever helped him out was when he finally felt he was good enough to drive and the Buesh series. My dad used to go to short tracks with friends working on their cars. He recalls junior showing up with worse equipment than everybody else hat because he paid for it And everything he did was out of his own pocket. And junior kicked a** in that shotty equipment. He was an immensely talented driver he just did not ever have consistent equipment. I love HMS to death but they really did him wrong by putting him in 3rd car equipped. He and Casey Kane suffered from it. His career resurgence in the final years of his career was aligned with Jeff Gordon retiring. The 88 started getting 2nd car and 1st car equipment. All that said he deserves his Hall of fame induction. For both on the track and off the track. I see him sitting next to or just behind mark Martin as one of the best to never win a championship.

To me he was a constant driver he had to grow up in his fathers shadow and then when sr passed he had to carry the Earnhardt name and he had 2 xfinity championships and could easily won the 2004 cup championship if he had 1 or 2 less dnfs

He was pretty good. Slightly below Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin tier. Maybe if he avoids concussion issues he could be on that level. Really don't know how he did so poorly at HMS early on though. In 09 Allmendinger finished higher than Jr. in the standings while driving the petty 44. I love AJ he's my favorite driver, but he did not lead a lap that year

"...because he had a famous father and was handed everything simply isnt true ". It is exactly true. He had a famous father, and he inherited his ride and team.

Hall of fame worthy for on track performance? Not even close. Hall of fame worthy for keeping fans interested during the dark years and being the biggest ambassador this sport has ever seen? Yes. Not a jr fan by any means but he’s a huge reason why the sport was still relevant for so many years.

Let's also note that in his early Bud years, he led a ton of laps. As much as anyone else. He just struggled to close in on some wins as any new dominant driver does.

Also, after listening to Dale Junior’s life and podcast since he’s retired. It looks like he didn’t have much of a relationship with his dad or nor did he learn much from his dad. He said around 97-98 is when he started having a really good relationship with his dad and then in 2001 his dad gets taken away from him. And even then he said they never really talk about racing like that. so for Junior to do that well without the legend of his dad was just imagine if he DID.

Life long Earnhardt family fan period, going back to the pass in the grass. After his father's death he showed up, championship or not, he showed up and continue to race after losing the biggest influence on his life. He kept racing and for that I'm happy and proud he finished his driving career on his terms and is an even bigger influence now that he is not driving.

I’m his own words he got what he wanted out of the race game don’t think he worries about being the best or the worse

Fun fact - Dale Jr. came close to being sponsored by Burger King instead of Budweiser.