Living up to his father’s legacy, Dale Earnhardt Jr has had an illustrious racing career. Collecting innumerable awards and accolades, the Pied Piper of Daytona also collected the NASCAR’s Cup Series Most Popular Driver award a record fifteen consecutive times.
Despite being the most popular face of NASCAR’s modern era, Dale Jr now finds himself conflicted after his JR Motorsports team’s recent Xfinity Series win.
Dale Jr’s introspection fuels self-doubt
Winning the 2019 and 2020 ARCA Menards East Series championship titles, Sam Mayer jumped over to NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, first running part-time in 2021 before signing a multi-year full-time contract with JR Motorsports. Driving the #1 Chevy, Mayer grabbed ten top-5 finishes last season, ranking 7th in the championship standings.
Continuing his onslaught in the 2023 season, the 20-year-old JR Motorsports driver has so far collected six top-5 finishes and also secured his first-ever race win in the Henry 180 Xfinity Series race at Road America. Although enthralled by his driver’s groundbreaking achievement, Junior soon found himself shrouded in self-doubt.
Speaking to his long-time pal, Mike Davis on the Dale Jr Download podcast, Junior reflected on Sam Mayer’s win saying, “He’s very young, not even old enough to do a beer toast, right? He’s gonna do chocolate milk. The thing that I think about is, you know, we put Sam (Mayer) in the college level, the triple-A level, the Xfinity Series. It’s a very competitive series, we expect a lot out of the drivers.”
Taking a hard look in the mirror, Dale Jr added, “But I think about myself at that age and what I’d be able to manage, the expectations and deliver. I’m not sure, you know? I really don’t think ahead at all together to be able to accomplish and do what he does.”
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While Junior remains engulfed in self-doubt, his long list of achievements stands in disagreement.
How did Junior fare in his rookie era?
Although he didn’t start out as a teenager in NASCAR like Sam Mayer, Dale Earnhardt Jr competed in his first-ever Xfinity Series race at just 21 years of age. Starting his full-time Xfinity Series pursuit in 1998, 23-year-old Junior won seven races, also securing his first Xfinity Series championship title.
Continuing his winning streak, Dale Jr then again collected the 1999 Xfinity Series championship title. Despite failing to claim a Cup Series title throughout his illustrious career, Junior claimed the achievement of being the only rookie to win the 2000 The Winston (now the All-Star Race).
Given his impressive list of rookie-era achievements, one is forced to wonder if Dale Jr’s self-doubting comment is a mere display of his humble persona.
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