Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3Widealley.com By nascarshirley88

But in 2009 i want to see the fire in him he had after the accident. I know he can win that championship that all of JR nation is waiting for him to do. And like he knows in his heart, his fans respect and love him for his attitude and what he represents. He is a everyday down to earth person, that fans relate to, and will always stand behind him. I think Rick Hendrix will supply him with the guidance and cars he needs to get the job done!

So to all JR nation.... i think it is going to be a great ride in 2009! 

All eyes were on Earnhardt in the aftermath of the crash; close friends observed that the young man seemed to grow up overnight, thrust into maturity by the loss of his father. Unable to grieve privately, Earnhardt and his family had to cope with the fans' sorrow as well as their own. One week later, Earnhardt returned to the driver's seat to race at the North Carolina Speedway. That race ended badly, as Earnhardt was slowed in the first lap by a minor accident. He struggled over the next couple of months, performing poorly in many of his races. In July he headed back to the site of his father's death, the Daytona International Speedway, for the Pepsi 400. His stepmother, Teresa, did not attend the race, unwilling to return so soon to that arena. Earnhardt somehow put aside his grief, focused tightly on the track in front of him, and emerged victorious. "I will be crying sooner or later," Earnhardt said of his feelings for his father after the emotional victory, as quoted in the NASCAR.com profile of his family. "I dedicate this win to him—there ain't nobody else." Earnhardt went on to two more significant victories that season, winning at Dover, Delaware, in September, the first race after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and winning in October at Talladega, the site of his father's last first-place finish before his death. Earnhardt finished the 2001 season ranked eighth in points (racers are awarded a certain number of points for each race based on their finish), with nearly $6 million in winnings.

While Earnhardt had a mediocre season on the tracks in 2002, his popularity soared. Sports Illustrated's Jeff MacGregor speculated on the phenomenal adoration of his fans: "Until the time of his 


Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits in his race-car after winning the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series Aaron's 312. 
AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

father's death, Dale Jr. ... had inspired in fans only the kind of tentative, speculative affection that surrounds the son of any famous man.... The fans' affections, their swarming passions, untethered after his father's accident, are beginning now to bear down on him." Conscious of his appeal to the masses, corporations beat a path to his door, offering millions of dollars in endorsement deals in return for Earnhardt plastering their logos all over his car and clothing. He published a book about his rookie Winston Cup season, Driver #8, which reached number four on the New York Times best-seller list and stayed on that list for seventeen weeks. He still mourned his father's loss—MacGregor quoted him as saying, "I used to miss him every minute. Now I've got it down to about every five minutes"—but he had begun to move on. He took on a much greater role in Dale Earnhardt Inc., the racing team begun by his father and owned by his stepmother, focusing on the team's long-term success. 

During the 2003 season, Earnhardt performed better than he had in any prior year. He won two Cup races, at Talladega and Phoenix. He had thirteen top-five finishes, and finished in sixth through tenth place another eight times. His final Cup standing was third place, his highest finish since entering the Winston Cup division. He continued to win the fervent admiration of fans, who voted him NASCAR's most popular driver; he won more votes, 1.3 million, than the rest of the top-ten drivers combined. Earnhardt began the 2004 season with a flourish, winning the celebrated Daytona 500 on February 15, almost three years exactly after his father's death on the same track. Whether he goes on to have a career that matches his father's stellar performance or simply remains one of a handful of top NASCAR drivers does not seem to matter to his fans. After his Phoenix victory in late 2003, a reporter asked Earnhardt how things might change if he became a Winston Cup champion. Earnhardt considered the question, according to AutoWeek magazine, and responded, "I don't know if it would be a whole lot different. Fans cheer for you not because of wins, but ... because of who you are, what you represent, and your attitude.