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152-457: Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative to many former and current drivers in the NASCAR ranks. Since retiring from full-time competition after the 2017 season , he has competed part-time in

304-616: A 2024 North Wilkesboro Speedway Craftsman Truck Series race. Carson Kvapil, who drives for JR Motorsports, won the 2024 IceBreaker in a season which led to him making starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series that including a podium finish at Dover Motor Speedway and a win at the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 in Martinsville, earning a 2025 Xfinity ride. The major events at Florence currently feature

456-803: A 23rd-place finish at Sonoma after being wrecked in a green-white-checkered finish, but was still able to cross the finish line intact and on the lead lap, continuing his streak of being the only driver to finish all races on the lead lap. He would back this up with a fourth-place finish in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Stock car racing Top-level stock cars exceed 200 mph (322 km/h) at speedway tracks and on superspeedway tracks such as Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway . Contemporary NASCAR-spec top-level cars produce maximum power outputs of 860–900 hp from their naturally aspirated V8 engines. In October 2007 American race car driver Russ Wicks set

608-590: A 2nd-place finish at Martinsville after losing the lead to Kevin Harvick with 4 laps to go, and a 4th-place finish at Talladega in a photo finish with Jimmie Johnson , Jeff Gordon , Mark Martin , Clint Bowyer , and Kevin Harvick . Earnhardt came within half a lap of snapping his then-104 race winless streak at the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, when he ran out of fuel during

760-620: A 5-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 88 until 2017. On September 19, 2011, Earnhardt made his first Chase for the Sprint Cup appearance since 2008 at Chicagoland. At the season finale at Homestead, he finished 11th and finished 7th in the final points standings. On December 1, 2011, it was announced that Earnhardt won the Most Popular Driver award for the 9th consecutive time. Earnhardt started 8th in

912-493: A Daytona 500 race, it was still a significant improvement over its predecessor the Dodge Charger 500. NASCAR feared that these increasing speeds significantly surpassed the abilities of the tire technology of the day, and it would undoubtedly increase the number of gruesome wrecks that were occurring. As a result, the 1970 Homologation rules were changed so that one car for every two U.S. dealers had to be built for sale to

1064-502: A Late Model for himself and one of his Late Model drivers. Numerous winners of the Powell Memorial have won at NASCAR's national level. Earnhardt continues to both drive and field cars for the major Florence races, with participation in the season-ending Powell and the season-opening IceBreaker since the 2022 season finale. Brenden "Butterbean" Queen won the 2022 edition, leapfrogging him to stardom where he finished fourth in

1216-846: A Midwest regional series. In addition to the ARCA Menards Series , it also sanctions the ARCA Midwest Tour since 2007, and previously the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series from 1999 to 2016. NASCAR purchased ARCA in early 2018. For the 2020 season, the NASCAR K&;N Series East and West were rebranded under the ARCA banner as the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West . Outside of NASCAR, there are

1368-557: A blue-and-yellow No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet (painted to pay tribute to his father and fans) and drove it to victory lane in the Nationwide Series' Subway Jalapeño 250 at Daytona. On December 2, 2010, it was announced that Earnhardt won the NMPA Most Popular Driver award for the 8th consecutive time. He began the season by drawing the pole position at the 2011 Budweiser Shootout , where he finished 19th in

1520-659: A continuation of the Myrtle Beach season, as NASCAR and CARS transferred the track's sanctions for both NASCAR weekly racing and the CARS Tour to Florence Motor Speedway. The first race at Florence with the promoters was the Prelude to the Southern 500 , held on the weekend of Darlington's second race meeting. Sam Yarbrough, who won the last Myrtle Beach Late Model feature, won the 100 lap feature. Since Darlington Raceway

1672-641: A cost of A$ 54 million, was modeled on a scaled down version of the famous Charlotte Motor Speedway . Other tracks used included the 1 ⁄ 2 mile (805 metre) Speedway Super Bowl at the Adelaide International Raceway (also owned by Jane, this was the only paved oval track in Australia other than the Thunderdome, though with only 7° banking in the turns it was more of a traditional flat track), as well as road courses such as

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1824-647: A critical decision to stay out on the final pit stop to get a much needed Top 10 finish to move him up to 10th in the points. He made the 2006 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup after finishing 17th in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 9, 2006. He came close to winning at Talladega and was leading on the last lap when Brian Vickers made contact with Earnhardt's future teammate Jimmie Johnson , sending Johnson into Earnhardt and spinning both of them out. His points position going into

1976-400: A custom built machine, or a heavily modified streetcar. Individual sanctioning bodies (like NASCAR, ACT , PASS , UARA, ASA , CARS Tour , etc.) maintain their own late model rule books, and even individual racetracks can maintain their own rule books, meaning a late model that is legal in one series or at one track may not be legal at another without modifications. The national touring series,

2128-502: A great deal of available data, and NASCAR was formed just as some of the improved technology was about to become available in production cars. Until the advent of the Trans-Am Series in 1967, NASCAR homologation cars were the closest thing that the public could buy that was actually very similar to the cars that were winning national races. The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket V-8 with a displacement of 303 cu in (5.0 L)

2280-434: A green flag around the asphalt oval that spans 0.538 miles (0.866 km). Rambi Raceway opened as a dirt track in 1958. The track hosted one NASCAR Convertible Series event in 1958 and one NASCAR Grand National East Series race in 1972. Nick Lucas bought the track in 1968, paving it in 1974. Billy Hardee became a co-owner in 1987. NASCAR Southeast Series had run 17 races at the facility between 1991 and 2004, with

2432-464: A green-white-checkered finish, finishing 7th. The following week at Kansas, Earnhardt finished 2nd to Brad Keselowski . He followed this up with a solid 6th-place finish at Pocono. Over the course of the next three races, Earnhardt would slide to 7th in the Championship points, finishing 21st at Michigan, 41st at Infineon, and 19th at Daytona. On September 1, 2011, Earnhardt announced he had signed

2584-411: A highly sophisticated purpose built race car with race-tuned V-8 engines developing 480 kW (650 bhp), quick change axles and gearboxes and biased and staggered chassis and braking set up for constant left turning. However large bumpers were mandatory with contact very much encouraged to remove opponents. The sport can be seen at venues throughout Britain and Mainland Europe. A downsized version of

2736-581: A hot start to the year, qualifying well in the season's first two months and winning the pole for the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. He finished 15th in the race and stayed within Chase for the Sprint Cup contention for much of the season's first half. In a year defined by inconsistency, however, Earnhardt scored only two additional top-five finishes after the Daytona 500: a fourth-place result at

2888-434: A late race contact with teammate Jeff Gordon and a speeding penalty. Earnhardt would back this up with a pair of back to back 3rd-place finishes at Auto Club and Martinsville Speedway, leaving him second in the standings. In the following weeks, Earnhardt would bring a string of Top 10s: 10th at Texas, 7th at Kansas, 2nd at Richmond, and 9th at Talladega, where he led 10 laps. The following week, Earnhardt struggled for most of

3040-523: A lot." Starting in the 2008 season, Hendrick Motorsports merged its Nationwide Series team to Earnhardt's JR Motorsports, with the cars coming from Earnhardt's shop, which employs his mother and uncles. Earnhardt started the 2008 season by winning the Budweiser Shootout , a non-points paying exhibition. It was his first race for Hendrick. He led for a total of 47 out of 70 laps, a Budweiser Shootout record. He followed that up five days later with

3192-478: A meeting at the Streamline Hotel in order to form an organization that would unify the rules. When NASCAR was first formed by France in 1948 to regulate stock car racing in the U.S., there was a requirement that any car entered be made entirely of parts available to the general public through automobile dealers. Furthermore, the car models were required to have sold over 500 units to the public. This

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3344-691: A number of other national or regional stock-car sanctioning bodies in the United States. There are a few organizations that cater to these local short tracks . The American Speed Association (ASA), Champion Racing Association (CRA), International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), United Auto Racing Association (UARA), Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS), and they all sanction their own forms of stock-car racing, on varying types of track, and with various levels of media coverage. The International Race of Champions (IROC) and Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) are usually perceived as being outside of

3496-406: A pair of Bud Pole Awards, and an 11th-place finish in the points standings with 11 Top 5's and 16 Top 10's. In 2003, Earnhardt Jr. became a true title contender, scoring a record-breaking fourth consecutive win at Talladega, after being involved in a 27-car crash on lap 4. He struggled for most of the race and was at points a half-lap down, only catching back up to the pack through a caution. The win

3648-521: A protective balaclava with his helmet. The burns prevented him from finishing two races where he was relieved by Martin Truex Jr. (at New Hampshire) and his DEI teammate John Andretti (at Pocono) in the middle of the races. In the fall, Earnhardt became the first driver to sweep a weekend at Bristol by winning both the Busch and Nextel Cup races in the same weekend. Earnhardt was able to qualify for

3800-517: A roller-coaster season. He struggled after enduring a concussion from a head-on collision to the outside wall at the California race in April ;– an injury he did not admit to until mid-September. In the three races following California, he finished no better than 30th. However, Earnhardt Jr. rallied to sweep both Talladega races (leading a dominating 133 of 188 laps in the spring race),

3952-589: A row) in the boxier Plymouth Belvedere. The 1969 season featured the Torino Cobra or Torino "Talladega" which had enough aerodynamic body improvements that it gave it a higher speed than the 1968 Torino, with no other changes. The Cobra, featuring extended nose and reshaped rockers, was renamed Talladega part way through the 1969 season when the Boss 429 replaced the 427. Starting in 1963 up till this point, Ford had won six straight Manufacturer Championships, and by

4104-495: A single cam-in-block . But even without the cammer, the Ford FE 427 won in 1965. In 1966 Chrysler sold enough of the 426 Hemis to make it available again, and they put it in their new Dodge Charger which had a low-drag rear window that was radically sloped. It was called a "fast-back", and because of this David Pearson was the series champion that year with Richard Petty dominating 1967, winning 27 of 48 races (including 10 in

4256-739: A situation where South Boston Speedway could not open because of Commonwealth restrictions in Virginia, and moved that round to Florence in October 2020. The Myrtle Beach 400 was renamed the South Carolina 400 Charlie Powell Memorial and continued in its traditional mid-November date in 2020, held the week before the Southern National Motorsports Park Thanksgiving Classic. 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ty Majeski won

4408-459: A speed record for stock cars in a 2007-season Dodge Charger built to NASCAR specifications by achieving a maximum speed of 244.9 mph (394.1 km/h) at Bonneville Speedway . For the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series , power output of the competing cars ranged from 750 to 800 hp (560 to 600 kW). In the 1920s, moonshine runners during the Prohibition era would often have to outrun

4560-512: A very strong performance at Talladega, leading for 20 laps, and finishing second to his protege Brad Keselowski after Keselowski sent Edwards flying into the catch fence. However, two weeks later at Richmond, Earnhardt finished 27th. He was again spun out late in the race at Darlington and ended the race in 27th place. He then finished 10th in the All-Star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Earnhardt's poor performance continued as he finished 40th at

4712-474: A vintage Budweiser car at Michigan International Speedway to honor both his grandfather ( Ralph Earnhardt ) and his father, who at one point in both their careers used the No. 8 car. After rain caused the race to be ended early, Earnhardt finished 3rd with Kasey Kahne winning the race. After 17 races in the 2006 season, Earnhardt sat 3rd in the championship standings with 1 win, coming at Richmond in May 2006. During

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Misplaced Pages Continue

4864-570: A way that they hoped would make the cars safer and more equal, so the race series would be more a test of the drivers, rather than a test of car technology. In addition, R.J. Reynolds (the tobacco conglomerate) took over as the major sponsor of NASCAR racing (changing the name to the "Winston Cup") and they made a significantly larger financial contribution than previous sponsors. Richard Petty's personal sponsorship with STP also set new, higher standards for financial rewards to driving teams. The sudden infusion of noticeably larger amounts of money changed

5016-528: A win in the first of the Gatorade Duels . This was his third career win in the duels, however, he was unable to follow it up with victory in the Daytona 500 , finishing 9th. Ryan Newman was the winner of the event. Earnhardt was docked 50 points because his rear spoiler did not meet the specified height in the Nationwide Series. His crew chief Chad Walter was fined $ 35,000, suspended for 6 races and

5168-478: Is 13.1 miles (21.1km) from Florence Motor Speedway, promoters, who kept Myrtle Beach silent during the Darlington weekend, added local races on Darlington's Cup weekends to promote NASCAR's local racing initiative. In 2021, the Prelude to Darlington was added on Goodyear 400 weekend, and was specifically designed where spectators can attend both races on the same day. On September 9, 2020, CARS then alleviated

5320-700: Is a two-time champion of the Xfinity Series, winning in 1998 and 1999 when the series was known as the Busch Series. Earnhardt's success at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway throughout his career earned him the nickname "the Pied Piper". He is a two-time Daytona 500 winner ( 2004 and 2014 ), and won the Most Popular Driver Award fifteen consecutive times from 2003 to 2017. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

5472-455: Is currently run in two parts, with a ten-minute halftime break after 125 laps (or earlier if a safety car happens within five laps of the prescribed break). All safety car periods use noncompetitive pit stops (as is the standard at most Late Model and Super Late Model races). Tire changes are only permitted at the Lap 125 break, with single tire changes in case of a flat spot or a tire failure during

5624-484: Is referred to as " homologation ", which other racing series has since adapted for their own rulesets. In NASCAR's early years, the cars were so "stock" that it was commonplace for the drivers to drive themselves to the competitions in the car that they were going to run in the race. While automobile engine technology had remained fairly stagnant in World War II, advanced aircraft piston engine development had provided

5776-607: Is the second tier series in the United States. It serves as the primary feeder series to the Cup Series, similar to Formula Two for Formula One , and Indy Lights for Indy Car . Races are commonly held as a support race to Cup Series events. Many current Cup Series drivers formerly competed in the Series before moving on to competing full-time in the Cup Series. The Xfinity series typically features multiple Cup Series competitors competing alongside full time Xfinity drivers. There

5928-504: Is the team racing format. Typically teams racing consists of two teams of four cars each that work together to win the race. Teams normally protect their "runners" while attempting to eliminate the opposing team, the races can be decided by a points format or first across the finish line. The class most resembling the North American form of stock car racing are known as Saloon cars. Super Saloons are similar to dirt late models with

6080-495: Is widely recognized as the first postwar modern overhead valve (OHV) engine to become available to the public. The Oldsmobile was an immediate success in 1949 and 1950, and all the automobile manufacturers could not help noticing the higher sales of the Oldsmobile 88 to the buying public. The motto of the day became "win on Sunday, sell on Monday." However, in spite of the fact that several competing engines were more advanced,

6232-562: The AMP Energy 500 where he was en route to a possible win before being caught up in "The Big One" late in the race. He headed to Martinsville Speedway where he finished 2nd to teammate Jimmie Johnson . He ended the season in the garage area at Homestead Miami Speedway in The Ford 400 after losing his brakes with just a few laps to go in the race. Earnhardt finished the season 12th in points, 557 points behind champion Jimmie Johnson. In

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6384-510: The BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars , the smaller BriSCA Formula 2 Stock Cars , previously known as "The Juniors" or "Junior Stock Cars", are also very popular. these cars are powered by the 2 litre Ford 'Pinto' engine. There are also many other formulas running on the oval tracks throughout a season that starts around March/Easter and continues to October/November. In the 2008 World Final, held at Ipswich, Andy Smith raced to victory becoming

6536-679: The Coca-Cola 600 weekend when he was replaced with DEI chief engineer Steve Hmiel, who helped Earnhardt score his lone win of 2005 at Chicagoland in July when he took the lead from Matt Kenseth on the last cycle of pit stops. Earnhardt was eliminated from any possible competition for the NEXTEL Cup championship after suffering an engine failure at the California Speedway . Earnhardt was reunited with his cousin, Tony Eury Jr., after

6688-650: The Coke Zero 400 , and an additional fourth-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. He wrapped up the year with eight top-10s and a 21st-place finish in points. Hendrick Motorsports did a major crew chief shuffle following the season, pairing Earnhardt's crew chief McGrew with Mark Martin, while Gordon's crew chief, Steve Letarte, moved to the No. 88 team, and Gordon inherited Martin's crew chief, Alan Gustafson. Earnhardt's Nationwide Series results offered more optimism in 2010. On July 2, Earnhardt raced

6840-501: The EA Sports 500 at Talladega , for which he also scored a Winston No Bull 5 $ 1 million bonus. He was docked 25 points, however, after his car failed post-race inspection. With this win, DEI swept three of the four restrictor plate races for 2001, only failing to win the spring Talladega race. He finished the 2001 season eighth in the points standings with three wins, nine Top 5's, 15 Top 10's, and two poles. In 2002, Earnhardt Jr. had

6992-927: The Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina and the East Carolina Motor Speedway in Robersonville, North Carolina , where he captured the pole for the Greenville Merchants 300 on October 28, 1994. There, he developed an in-depth knowledge of chassis setup and car preparation, while racing against his siblings. He worked at his father's dealership as a mechanic while he went to Mitchell Community College to earn an associate degree in automotive technology . Earnhardt Jr. ran nine Busch Series races between 1996 and 1997 for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. , and Ed Whitaker , respectively, before driving for his father's team in

7144-571: The NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series , originated from local late model races in the east coast of the U.S. This division was later called the "Busch Series", the "Nationwide Series", and currently the "Xfinity Series" as its title sponsor changed. Late model racing has a very big following throughout the country. Many of the biggest late model races have very large purses, some equivalent to some NASCAR Truck and Xfinity Series races, that attract drivers from all over

7296-399: The NASCAR Xfinity Series , driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for his team, JR Motorsports . He became a color commentator for NASCAR on NBC in 2018 after retiring from driving full-time in NASCAR. After his contract with NBC expired after the 2023 season, he left for Amazon and TNT ' s new NASCAR coverage in NASCAR's next TV contract that begins in 2025. Earnhardt Jr. drove

7448-683: The Surfers Paradise Street Circuit (where the cars ran as a support category to the Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix ), Oran Park in Sydney , and the famous Mount Panorama Circuit . The term 'stock cars' in the UK refers to a specialized form of racing that bears little resemblance to any road car. Stock car racing was brought to Britain in 1954. Taking place on existing greyhound or speedway tracks,

7600-656: The first two held in Florence. In February 2021, the IceBreaker, which has been held since 2016 to start the Myrtle Beach season, retained its traditional start of season date in February 2021 as the first race for the Florence track championship. Zacharias successfully retained Myrtle Beach's traditional races and dates, with the IceBreaker the second race for the NASCAR Late Model scene, and pays points for

7752-423: The "interim" taken off of his title, and he continued working with the No. 88 team through the end of the 2010 season. Earnhardt ended 2009 winless scoring two top-fives, five top-tens, an average finish of 23.3, and finished a career low 25th in the standings. On February 6, 2010, Earnhardt qualified second overall for the 52nd Daytona 500 after losing the pole position to teammate Mark Martin . He started 1st in

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7904-604: The "top 3" series. In addition to the top three series, NASCAR also sanctions many regional and local series. NASCAR also sanctions three international series that race in Canada , Mexico , and Europe . The most prominent championship in stock car racing is the NASCAR Cup Series . It is the most popular racing series in the United States, drawing over 6 million spectators in 1997, an average live audience of over 190,000 people for each race. The most famous event in

8056-449: The 2000 season with two wins, three Top 5's, five Top 10's, and two poles. The season began with the 2001 Daytona 500 and on the final lap of the race Earnhardt Jr. and his teammate Michael Waltrip competed for the win, with Jr eventually finishing second to Waltrip. Behind the leading two cars, Earnhardt Jr's father had crashed into the outside wall of turn 4 after Sterling Marlin made contact with his left rear bumper. Earnhardt Sr.

8208-409: The 2008 BriSCA F1 Stock Car World Champion for the second time in his career, taking the crown from brother Stuart Smith Jnr. 2009 also saw Andy Smith win again this time at Kings Lynns Norfolk Arena. 2010 saw Andy Smith win for a 3rd consecutive time at Coventry, the same venue as his 1st win in 2006. The 2011 World Championship took place at Northampton on September 10 with 2 Paul Harrison the winner of

8360-582: The Budweiser Shootout, led for several laps, and finished 20th after being caught up in a six-car crash on lap 55 that also involved Matt Kenseth , Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick . In the Gatorade Duel , Earnhardt performed strong, starting on the outside pole in the first duel race. He led a few laps in the early part of the race before finishing second to Tony Stewart after his Nationwide Series teammate Danica Patrick smashed hard into

8512-477: The Busch Series full-time in 1998, in which he started the season with an amazing blow over after contact with Dick Trickle and Buckshot Jones at Daytona, on the same weekend that his father had his first and only Daytona 500 win . Earnhardt won consecutive NASCAR Busch Series Championships in 1998 and 1999 barely edging Matt Kenseth . In 1998, he made his first start in the Winston Cup Series , at

8664-678: The Busch Series in 2006, driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports US Navy Chevrolet, with Richard Childress Racing providing assistance; however, he was fired before the fall Michigan race, the Carfax 250 . He was replaced by Robby Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. for the rest of the year. Long-time short track racer Shane Huffman drove Earnhardt's USAR Hooters ProCup car in 2006. In 2006, during the spring weekend at Talladega Superspeedway , Earnhardt and other DEI drivers drove with special black paint schemes on their cars, reminiscent of his late father's famous No. 3 paint scheme. On Father's Day in 2006, he drove

8816-548: The Carolinas and Virginia, perimeter chassis; cars used in this race are the same ones that are used at the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 in Martinsville Speedway). Originally a 400-lap All Pro race, the race has become 250 laps as a NASCAR Late Model with other weekly features combining for the 400 laps. The race was not held in 2012 because of weather, after which there were two features in 2013, one to start

8968-598: The Chase was 6th. He finished the season 5th in the point standings, 147 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. Earnhardt began the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season by finishing 32nd at the Daytona 500 as the result of a late race crash. His first Top 10 came at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500 , where he finished 7th. His first Top 5 came at Martinsville Speedway in the Goody's Cool Orange 500. He led 136 laps and finished 5th. He collected his third Top 10 of

9120-504: The Chase, eventually dropped him out of the running, and he finished fifth in the 2004 NEXTEL Cup Chase despite a career-high 6 wins at Daytona, Atlanta, Richmond, Bristol, Talladega and defending his fall win at Phoenix (though under the non-Chase points system, Earnhardt would have tied his third-place points finish of the previous year). He closed off the 2004 season with 6 wins, sixteen Top 5s, and twenty-one Top 10 finishes. He also picked up his 2nd consecutive Most Popular Driver Award. At

9272-513: The Coca-Cola 600 due to an ill-handling race car, after which Tony Eury Jr. was fired as his crew chief on May 28, 2009. Lance McGrew was named interim crew chief starting with the June 2009 race at Pocono, with team manager Brian Whitesell calling the shots at Dover the previous week. Earnhardt finished 12th at Dover for the Autism Speaks 400 with McGrew as his crew chief after contending for

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9424-534: The Cup Series in 1999. His father also used No. 8 early in his career. Earnhardt Jr. blamed his stepmother for not allowing the No. 8 to move with him to Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt said negotiations broke down when Teresa Earnhardt asked for part of the licensing revenue, along with wanting the number back after he retired. (The No. 8 team, after a successful season in 2008 with co-drivers Mark Martin and Aric Almirola , would end up being shut down in 2009 after DEI's merger with Ganassi Racing .) Earnhardt moved to

9576-410: The Ford Talladega, Mercury Spoiler II, Charger 500, Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird to a maximum engine displacement of 305 cu in (5.0 L) for 1971. Almost all teams switched to non-aero bodystyles. NASCAR eventually adopted a restrictor plate to limit top speeds for the 7.0L engine as teams switched to small-block 358 cu in (5.9 L) engines. NASCAR edited the rules in

9728-440: The Gatorade Duel No. 2 on February 11 of that year. He finished 11th in the 2010 Budweiser Shootout after struggling with an ill-handling car for most of the race. On February 13, 2010, while running in the front of the pack at the Daytona Nationwide Series race , Earnhardt was caught up in a multi-car wreck, causing his car to flip upside down on the backstretch. He walked away from the wreck uninjured. His driver Danica Patrick

9880-507: The Gold Roof. The 2012 World Championship held at Skegness was won by 217 Lee Fairhurst. The 2013 World Championship will be held at King's Lynn on Saturday 21 September. Myrtle Beach Speedway Myrtle Beach Speedway (originally named Rambi Raceway ), was a short track located on U.S. Route 501 near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina . The track was built in 1958. The speedway was a semi-banked asphalt oval track that spans 0.538 miles (0.866 km).The NASCAR Cup Series competed at

10032-419: The IceBreaker, races on both Darlington Raceway NASCAR Cup Series weekends, and the Charlie Powell 400 as its major weekends. The Myrtle Beach 400 was originally a NASCAR All Pro / Southeast Series Late Model event from 1993 to 1995 before becoming a NASCAR-spec Late Model division race in 1996 where any Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track that runs a NASCAR Late Model class car can participate (primarily in

10184-551: The Myrtle Beach 400 Late Model race (originally an All Pro event) beginning in 1993. Originally a 400-lap touring race, the race settled to NASCAR-specification Late Models of 250 laps with heat races and support races combined for 400 laps, originally set for Thanksgiving weekend, but later moved to the week before Thanksgiving in order to allow competitors to participate in the NASCAR Late Model Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucana, North Carolina . The Busch Series race (the Myrtle Beach 250 ) in 2000

10336-447: The Myrtle Beach BikeFest. In a deal that closed April 2012, Speedway Group Inc. bought the facility, including 48 acres. Robert J. Lutz, one of the new owners, said Lt. Gov. André Bauer arranged for the deal to take place. Bauer said he wanted the track to help improve Myrtle Beach's economy with new events. Upgrades to the track were planned, and plans called for the NASCAR Racing Experience to attract drivers and tourists. One goal

10488-458: The NASCAR 10-race playoff and had his 5th NEXTEL Cup win of the season (a career high) at Talladega. However, he was penalized 25 points for the use of an obscenity during the television broadcast, in violation of a new NASCAR rule prohibiting participants from using obscene language (the rule had been created the week after the Daytona 500, in the wake of the Super Bowl half-time show controversy ). That incident, combined with two consecutive DNFs in

10640-413: The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (son Robert was the 1988 national champion). Built in 1982 as a dirt track, it was paved in 1988. The Powell family and Zacharias' group signed a lease to own agreement that lasted from July 2020 to the end of the 2023 season. At the end of the 2023 season, Zacharias acquired full ownership. The 2020 season for Florence under the promotion of Zacharias began as

10792-450: The No. 8 Budweiser -sponsored Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI), his father's team in the NASCAR Cup Series , from his debut in 1999 until 2007 . In 2008 , he moved to Hendrick Motorsports to drive their No. 88 car. He remained with Hendrick until his last season as a full-time driver in 2017. Earnhardt has 26 wins in the Cup Series, a total that ranks him tied (with Fred Lorenzen ) for 32nd in NASCAR history as of May 2024. He

10944-461: The No. 88 car with Tony Eury Jr. coming to Hendrick to remain as his crew chief. On September 19, 2007, the official announcement was made that Earnhardt would be driving the No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP / National Guard Chevrolet Impala for the 2008 season. The No. 88, according to NASCAR archives, was driven by Ralph Earnhardt, his paternal grandfather, in 1957. His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee,

11096-596: The Speedway from 1958 through 1965. The NASCAR Busch Series (now the Xfinity Series ) raced at Myrtle Beach Speedway from 1988 to 2000. Over the years, Myrtle Beach Speedway has been the training grounds for some of NASCAR's biggest stars including Jeff Gordon (former Busch Series track record holder). All four generations of Pettys ( Lee , Richard , Kyle , and Adam ) and three generations of Earnhardts ( Ralph , Dale Sr. , Dale Jr. , and Kelley ) have taken

11248-686: The Street Stock division at Concord, North Carolina 's Motorsport Park. His first race car was a 1979 Monte Carlo that he co-owned with Kerry. By age 19, after two seasons of driving Street Stock Division, Earnhardt Jr. had honed his driving abilities to the point of joining the Late Model Stock Car Division. He competed on the North and South Carolina short tracks driving a No. 3 Buick. While he did run various tracks during this time, Earnhardt Jr. primarily focused his efforts at

11400-525: The UK and New Zealand there is a racing formula called stock cars, but the cars are markedly different from any road car. In Australia there was a formula that was quite similar to NASCAR called AUSCAR . The Racecar-Euro Series began in 2009 and was sanctioned by NASCAR as a touring series in 2012, currently operating as the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series . "True" stock car racing, which consists of only street vehicles that can be bought by

11552-549: The United States after World War II, this type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification of passenger cars in pursuit of higher speeds, hence the name. In many regions, particularly on the east coast, modified racing is considered the highest class of stock cars in local racing. NASCAR officially sanctions the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour which is the oldest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. The SMART Modified Tour , at one point

11704-558: The Year Award in 2000. His primary competitor for the award was Matt Kenseth . Kenseth outran Earnhardt in the season-opening Daytona 500 . Earnhardt scored his first win in the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway , breaking the record held by his father Earnhardt Sr. for the fewest starts by a driver to earn his first victory in NASCAR's "modern era" by winning in his 12th start, and also at Richmond International Raceway . He became

11856-418: The aerodynamic and low-slung Hudson Hornet managed to win in 1951, 1952, and 1953 with a 308 cu in (5.0 L) inline six-cylinder that used an old-style flathead engine , proving there was more to winning than just a more powerful engine. At the time, it typically took three years for a new design of car body or engine to end up in production and be available for NASCAR racing. Most cars sold to

12008-429: The age of 12, he was sent to Oak Ridge Military Academy ; three weeks later, Kelley quit high school to join him. He considered remaining at Oak Ridge for his senior year, but instead decided to attend Mooresville High School , from which he graduated in 1992. Earnhardt Jr. attended the high performance driving school run by Andy Hillenburg and began his racing career at the late age of 17 with his father, competing in

12160-469: The authorities. To do so, they had to upgrade their vehicles—while leaving them looking ordinary, so as not to attract attention. Eventually, runners started getting together with fellow runners and making runs together. They would challenge one another and eventually progressed to organized events in the early 1930s. The main problem racing faced was the lack of a unified set of rules among the different tracks. When Bill France Sr. saw this problem, he set up

12312-526: The cars conform to standard model specs has changed over the years and varies from country to country. Today most American stock cars may superficially resemble standard American family sedans but are in fact silhouette cars: purpose-built racing machines built to a strict set of regulations governing the car design ensuring that the chassis , suspension , engine, etc. are architecturally identical to those in stock production vehicles. For example, NASCAR Cup Series race vehicles now require fuel injection . In

12464-480: The cars were mostly 'stock' cars from the 1930s with locked rear axle differentials and added armour. After the first couple of years 'specials' began to appear eventually making the 'stock' car name something of a misnomer. Since the early days of stock car racing in Britain the sport has developed into many different classes, from the destructive 'Banger' categories to the very sophisticated National Hot Rods. However,

12616-576: The checkered flag. He won the MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 at Dover , which was the first Winston Cup Series race following the September 11 attacks as the original scheduled race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was postponed until the end of the season. After the race, he performed a Polish victory lap while holding a large American flag out the driver's side window. In October, Earnhardt Jr. took his second restrictor plate win as he won

12768-526: The close of the 2004 season, it was revealed that Tony Eury Sr. would be promoted to the team manager position for the DEI corporation, while Tony Eury Jr. became the crew chief for Michael Waltrip for the 2005 season. Peter Rondeau, a Chance 2 employee who also helped Earnhardt win the Busch Series race at Bristol in August, became the crew chief for Earnhardt in 2005. Rondeau served as Earnhardt's crew chief until

12920-407: The company founded by his father, to drive for another team in 2008. Earnhardt expressed that his decision was based entirely on his desires to achieve his career goal of a Sprint Cup Championship , and his apparent belief that he would not be able to attain that objective while driving for DEI. He said that unless he could gain majority ownership, and therefore control, of DEI, he was not confident in

13072-546: The competitors, sponsorship dollars on offer as well as major television time, the Australian Superspeedway series shut down after 2001. The majority of the NASCAR and AUSCAR racing in Australia took place at the 1.801 km (1.119 mi), high-banked (24°) Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne . The Thunderdome, which was opened in 1987 and was built by multi-millionaire tyre retailer Bob Jane at

13224-710: The country including Cup, Xfinity, and Truck drivers. Despite NASCAR officially sanctioning the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series as a national championship, series such as the CARS Tour , ASA , UARA, and the ACT draw the biggest attention and sanction most of the biggest races in the country. NASCAR is currently the largest stock car racing governing body in the world. While NASCAR sanctions multiple series, it has three national championship touring series that are commonly referred to as

13376-481: The end of the 1969 season Ford would make it seven in a row. Richard Petty was tired of winning races but losing the championship, so after a private viewing of Ford's new Talladega and Boss 429 engine, he signed a lucrative deal with Ford. Prior to its first race at the Daytona 500, David Pearson's 427 powered Ford Torino Cobra set a new NASCAR record by being the first to exceed 190 mph (310 km/h) when he qualified at 190.029 mph (305.822 km/h). When

13528-516: The engine. Power output is usually in the range of 500–550 horsepower (373–410 kilowatts ). Tire width is usually limited to 8 in (200 mm). Some entry level classes are called "street stock", and are similar to what is often called " banger racing " in England. Modified stock cars resemble a hybrid of open wheel cars and stock cars. The rear wheels are covered by fenders but the front wheels and engine are left exposed. First popular in

13680-471: The entire nature of the sport. The 1973 oil crisis meant that large displacement special edition homologation cars of all makes were suddenly sitting unsold. Through the balance of the 1970s until 1991, the factory stock sheetmetal over a racing frame meant the cars looked very much like their street version counterparts. Then in 1992, with a highly modified body, and more aerodynamics, stock cars were quickly allowed to differ greatly from anything available to

13832-683: The exhibition race held at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan . Also in 1999, he drove in five Winston Cup races in the No. 8 Budweiser -sponsored Chevrolet for DEI in preparation for a full-time Cup Series ride in 2000, with his best finish being a tenth-place finish at Richmond in the fall race. The 2000 season was Earnhardt's breakout year in the Winston Cup Series. He competed for the Raybestos NASCAR Rookie of

13984-482: The facility, between 2015 and 2018. In 2016, Myrtle Beach Speedway began opening the season in February with the Late Models in the IceBreaker. In May 2020, it was announced the track would close its doors for good in August, before the season could be finished as the result of a sale to a land developer. Meanwhile, track promoter Steve Zacharias worked immediately to preserve Myrtle Beach's major races and upon

14136-652: The fall Richmond weekend, and results improved immediately. Earnhardt finished the season 19th in points. For the 3rd straight year, he took home the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award. Earnhardt's proficiency as a car owner continued. His race team outside of DEI, JR Motorsports , in 2005 fielded a car in the USAR Hooters ProCup Series, winning once and qualifying for the Four Champions playoff. Mark McFarland moved to

14288-436: The first driver one lap down (who gets a free pass should the caution flag come out), causing a 10-car pileup which included Denny Hamlin , Scott Speed , Jimmie Johnson , Kyle and Kurt Busch , Robby Gordon , Jamie McMurray , and Carl Edwards . Vickers and Kyle Busch later criticized Earnhardt, who denied purposely clipping Vickers. Earnhardt criticized Vickers for blocking him on the inside. The race concluded early due to

14440-531: The first rookie to win The Winston . Earnhardt played a part in recreating one Winston Cup milestone in 2000 when he competed with his father and half-brother Kerry in the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway . That occasion was only the second time that a father had raced against two sons – Lee Petty and his two sons Richard and Maurice had previously accomplished the feat. Earnhardt ended

14592-525: The first time in his career. In 2004, Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 , six years to the day after his father won his only title in the Great American Race (and 3 years after his father was killed in the 2001 race ). Earnhardt came very close to sweeping Speedweeks, as in addition to the Daytona 500, he also won his Gatorade Duel and the Busch Series race. However, he finished 2nd in the Budweiser Shootout to Dale Jarrett . On July 18, during

14744-425: The following weekend but finished in 43rd place after a wreck on the first lap that looked eerily similar to his father's wreck. Returning to Daytona for the Pepsi 400 , Earnhardt Jr. made a comeback and had the dominant car of the race, leading 115 out of 160 laps. On the last restart, he managed to make a move from sixth to first place in the span of two laps, with Waltrip holding off the field as Earnhardt Jr. took

14896-411: The general public, is sometimes now called "street stock", "pure stock", "hobby stock", "showroom stock", or "U-car" racing. In 1972, SCCA started its first showroom stock racing series, with a price ceiling on the cars of $ 3,000. Some modern showroom stock racing allows safety modifications done on showroom stock cars. Super stock classes are similar to street stock, but allow for more modifications to

15048-415: The inside wall in a last lap crash on the back straightaway. In the postponed Daytona 500 , he finished in 2nd place behind Matt Kenseth , after passing Greg Biffle on the last lap. At Phoenix, Earnhardt's car struggled most of the race and came out with a 14th-place finish. At Las Vegas, Earnhardt led 70 laps early but finished 10th based on bad pit strategy. At Bristol, Earnhardt finished 15th following

15200-408: The last 10 laps in the No. 5 car of Kyle Busch owned by Rick Hendrick . On May 27, 2007, Earnhardt rode a camouflage No. 8 car in the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day to raise money for the families of military troops. Jeff Gordon , Jimmie Johnson , Greg Biffle , Mark Martin , Ward Burton , Denny Hamlin , Casey Mears , Shane Huffman and Bill Elliott also changed their paint schemes for

15352-464: The last race, in July 2020, track promoter Steve Zacharias and business partners Brian Vause and Savannah Brotherton formed Speedway Plus Promotion LLC, becoming the promoters for Florence Motor Speedway, a .400 mile (644 metre) oval located at 836 East Smith Street in Timmonsville , 75 miles from the track but in the same metropolitan region owned by Charlie Powell, Jr., whose family has raced in

15504-506: The lead. At Pocono Raceway, however, he again ended with a 27th-place finish. Earnhardt improved thereafter following the change, finishing fifteenth at Chicagoland Speedway , though he had one DNF at Daytona International Speedway after being taken out of the race early in a large pileup. At the Carfax 400 at Michigan, Earnhardt charged to the front near the end of the race and finished 3rd; he also earned his second Top 5 finish this season in

15656-475: The main differences being the bodies closer resemble production cars, use iron engines up to 7.1 litres (434 cu in) with no rear offset and run much larger sprint car tyres on the rear. Stock car racing in the NASCAR mould (AUSCAR) had a following in Australia during the mid-late 1980s and through the 1990s, but with the advent of the Supercars Championship , which took up the bulk of

15808-541: The majority of the races, Dodge was forced to develop a better car of their own. Using the Charger 500 as a basis, they added a pointed nose. This nose was almost a carbon copy of the nose on the 1962 Ford Mustang I prototype. This radical body shape required a wing to remain stable at speeds over 180 mph (290 km/h). They named it the Dodge Daytona after the race they hoped to win. Even though it never won

15960-564: The move to Hendrick. Other contractual agreements in place at Hendrick Motorsports are said to have prevented a relationship with Bud. Due to a previous friendship between team owner Rick Hendrick and Earnhardt's father, Earnhardt later said that going to drive for Hendrick almost felt like driving for a second family team. On August 15, 2007, it was announced that Earnhardt would not be taking his familiar No. 8 with him to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. His late grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt , used that number, while Earnhardt picked it when he entered

16112-428: The name 'stock car' is usually reserved for that racing class which traces its roots back to these early days in the 1950s, BriSCA F1 Stock Cars , which were previously known as "The Seniors" or "Senior Stock Cars". Despite the physical demands of this full-contact sport, many competitors have been racing for 20 and even 30 years. For the first 10 years of the sport, stock cars were either adapted from road cars, or bore

16264-487: The occasion. He finished eighth, after leading with seven laps to go, but he had to pit for fuel and Casey Mears finished with the win. On August 5, 2007, Earnhardt earned his first pole position in a race since 2002 at Pocono Raceway . Although Kurt Busch won the race, Earnhardt had a dramatic comeback to finish 2nd after spinning out and experiencing shock troubles. Earnhardt led for eight laps before Busch took over. On August 12 at Watkins Glen International , Earnhardt

16416-473: The organization's ability to field the elite level equipment that would yield the elusive title. On June 13, 2007, he announced at a press conference that he had signed a five-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports , replacing Kyle Busch . At the time, Hendrick consisted of Jeff Gordon , Jimmie Johnson , and Casey Mears . One month later on July 13, 2007, it was announced that his long-time primary sponsor Budweiser would not be with Earnhardt when he made

16568-457: The other manufacturers had openly circumvented the ban. In 1963 GM gave in and openly abandoned compliance, and Chevrolet was allowed to produce the ZO6 427, but it did not immediately enjoy success. Then, in 1964 the new Chrysler 426 Hemi engine so dominated the series in a Plymouth Belvedere "Sport Fury" , the homologation rules were changed so that 1,000 of any engine and car had to be sold to

16720-784: The public did not have a wide variety of engine choices, and the majority of the buying public at the time was not interested in the large displacement special edition engine options that would soon become popular. However, the end of the Korean War in 1953 started an economic boom, and then car buyers immediately began demanding more powerful engines. Also in 1953, NASCAR recommended that the drivers add roll bars, but did not require them. In 1957, several notable events happened. The Automobile Manufacturers Association banned manufacturers from using race wins in their advertising and giving direct support to race teams. The desire from fans and manufacturers alike for higher performance cars within

16872-417: The public for homologation purposes, the race car rules were further modified, primarily in the interest of safety. This is because race drivers and their cars during this era were subjected to forces unheard of in street use, and require a far higher level of protection than is normally afforded by truly "stock" automobile bodies. In 1963 Ford sold enough of their aerodynamic "sport-roof" edition Galaxies to

17024-472: The public so it would qualify as stock, and with the heavy-duty FE block bored and stroked to the new limit of 427, the top five finishers were all Fords. Chrysler had bored their 413 to create the "Max Wedge" 426, but it still could not compete with the Fords. General Motors' headquarters had genuinely tried to adhere to the 1957 ban, but their Chevrolet division had also constantly tried to work around it, because

17176-486: The public to qualify as a stock part, instead of just 500. This made the 426 Hemi unavailable for the 1965 season. In 1965 Ford adapted two single-overhead-cams to their FE 427 V8 to allow it to run at a higher RPM (called the Ford 427 Cammer ). Ford started to sell "cammers" to the public to homologate it (mostly to dealer-sponsored privateer drag racers), but NASCAR changed the rules to specify that all NASCAR engines must use

17328-442: The public to qualify, hoping to delay the use of aero-bodies until tires could improve. For the 1970 season Dodge raced the 1969 model Daytona, but Plymouth managed to build over 1,920 Plymouth Superbirds , which were similarly equipped to the Daytona. Petty came back to Plymouth in the plus 200 mph (320 km/h) Superbird, and Bobby Isaac won the season championship in a Daytona. NASCAR restricted all "aero-cars" including

17480-560: The public. It also marks the beginning of the Generation 4 car . Modern racing "stock" cars are stock in name only, using a body template that is vaguely modeled after currently available automobiles. The chassis, running gear, and other equipment have almost nothing to do with anything in ordinary automobiles. NASCAR and the auto manufacturers have become aware of this, and for 2013 each brand ( Chevrolet , Dodge , Ford , and Toyota ) have redesigned their racing sheetmetal to more resemble

17632-531: The race at Darlington and had to settle with a 17th-place finish. At the All-Star Race, Earnhardt won the Sprint Showdown, leading all 40 laps to race his way into the big event. In the event, Earnhardt won the 4th segment and in the final 10 lap shootout, had to settle for a 5th-place finish. In the following two weeks, Earnhardt would post finishes of 6th at Charlotte and 4th at Dover heading into

17784-457: The race at New Hampshire, he experienced the second engine failure of his 2006 season, ultimately leading to a 43rd-place finish. Following New Hampshire was the race at Pocono, where he was running in the middle of the pack when he crashed in turn 2. These two events catapulted him to 11th in the points standing, out of the Chase for the Cup. At Indianapolis Motor Speedway , Earnhardt and his crew made

17936-515: The race started Donnie Allison's Torino lead the majority of the race (84 laps). Towards the end of the race the Torino of LeeRoy Yarbrough chased down the Dodge of Charlie Glotzbach , who had an 11-second lead. It was the first Daytona 500 won on a last lap pass. Things got worse for Dodge when NASCAR, a few months later, finally allowed Ford to run its hemi-headed Boss 429 engine. With Ford winning

18088-422: The race. Tire rotations are permitted. The race will use a specification tire from Continental AG . During safety car periods until Lap 200, the laps to determine the running order before pit lane opens, and if necessary, the first four laps of the safety car period will not count. After Lap 200, no laps under the safety car count. Starting in 2023, qualifying only awarded positions 2nd to 20th. Pole position

18240-419: The race. On February 13, he earned his first pole position at Daytona International Speedway, as well as his first at a track that uses restrictor plates . Due to a practice crash, he had to start at the back of the field for both the duel race and the 500. He finished 24th in the Daytona 500 after being wrecked with 4 laps to go. Over the next seven races, Earnhardt would achieve five Top 10 finishes, including

18392-468: The rain and Earnhardt officially finished 27th. He later apologized for his actions but maintained that he never intended to wreck Vickers. After a blown engine at California and falling to 35th in owners' points, he finished 10th at Las Vegas and reached 29th place in points. He finished 8th at Martinsville. He had a string of poor finishes including 20th at Texas, and 31st at Phoenix after being spun out by Casey Mears . He gained confidence in his team with

18544-558: The recognizable bodywork of road cars. By the 1970s, chassis and bodywork had evolved into very specialized forms. In 2001 the ASCAR Racing Series was formed and ran until 2008, the series was a "NASCAR" style racing series that was predominantly run at Rockingham Motor Speedway as well as briefly on the continent. The first season was won by John Mickel . Other notable champions were Nicolas Minassian and Ben Collins who also played as The Stig on Top Gear . The field

18696-575: The regular stock car racing scene because of their all-star grids. Cars are built to an extremely rigid design and feature strong steel guards around almost the entire car. "Stockcars" are divided into three classes: Superstocks, Stock cars, Ministocks (Ministocks predominantly being a non-contact youth class). Superstocks are the top class and are typically powered by V8 engines up to 4.1 litres (248 cu in) which can produce over 370 kilowatts (500 hp). The majority of races are of an individual nature however, unique to New Zealand stock car racing

18848-519: The restrictions of homologation meant that carmakers began producing limited production "special edition" cars based on high production base models. It also became apparent that manufacturers were willing to produce increasingly larger engines to remain competitive (Ford had developed a 483 they hoped to race). For the 1963 season NASCAR engines were restricted to using a maximum displacement of 7.0 liters (427 cu.in.) and using only two valves per cylinder. Also, even with heavy duty special editions sold to

19000-537: The same race. Earnhardt finished 9th in the Sharpie 500 a week later at Bristol, but his bad luck continued at the Auto Club Speedway when he was involved in a multi-car incident. After a 39th qualifying run at Lowe's Motor Speedway, he said "I'm about to the end of my rope". At the fall Talladega race, Earnhardt had a solid run, including leading several laps, before finishing in 11th place. Lance McGrew had

19152-499: The season and his 8th at Talladega Superspeedway with his 7th-place performance in the 2007 Aaron's 499 . On May 14, 2007, he was docked 100 driver championship points, car owner Teresa Earnhardt was docked 100 owner points, and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was fined $ 100,000 and suspended for 6 races due to the use of illegal mounting brackets used to attach the wing to his car. During the April race at Texas Motor Speedway he drove

19304-508: The season and one to end the season. After the transfer of sanction by NASCAR, the race moved to Florence for the 2020 season. The 2024 format for the Saturday event consists of two heat races (25 laps) where the top six cars qualify for the feature, followed by two entry level feature races for four-cylinder Mini Stocks and eight-cylinder Street Stocks of 50 laps each, and a 250-lap feature for NASCAR-specification Late Models. The race

19456-425: The season-opening Daytona 500 , Earnhardt began well, even leading for a lap. However multiple misfortunes, including a missed pit stop and a 1-lap penalty for pitting outside of his pit box, sent him far into the back of the running order. Earnhardt was then directly involved in a controversial crash on lap 124, when, while fighting to return to the lead lap, he came in contact with Brian Vickers while fighting to be

19608-630: The series is the Daytona 500 , an annual 500-mile (800 km) race at the Daytona International Speedway . The series' second-biggest event is arguably The Brickyard 400 , an annual 400-mile (640 km) race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway , the legendary home of the Indianapolis 500 , an open-wheeled race. However, the event was excluded from the 2021 schedule in favor of a race on

19760-408: The street models of their cars. A stock car, in the original sense of the term, is an automobile that has not been modified from its original factory configuration. Later the term stock car came to mean any production-based automobile used in racing. This term is used to differentiate such a car from a " race car ", a special, custom-built car designed only for racing purposes. The degree to which

19912-441: The summer months. At the newly repaved Pocono Raceway, Earnhardt led 36 laps during the race but made a late race fuel pit stop from 3rd place with just over 20 laps to go, finishing 8th and standing 2nd in points. At the 2012 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan, Earnhardt dominated the race, leading 95 laps, and won, snapping a 143-race winless streak, almost four years to the day after his last win on June 15, 2008. Earnhardt would suffer

20064-529: The summer off-weekend, Earnhardt crashed a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R during a practice for the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway . The car slid off course and hit a concrete barrier during warm-up the day of the race, rupturing a fuel line and causing the car to burst into flames with him still inside. He suffered second and third-degree burns on his neck, chin, and legs partially due to not wearing

20216-417: The track safe from demolition for the time being, photos taken on July 6, 2021 showed weeds and grass slowly taking over the racetrack. In December 2021, most of the track, including the track itself, most of the outside walls, and pit road were demolished, as now all that remains (as of December 31, 2021), is the frontstretch and backstretch walls which show the name of the former racetrack. In preparation for

20368-518: The track's closure, worked to finish the 2020 racing season. The final race at Myrtle Beach Speedway was held in August 2020. Sam Yarbrough won the final Late Model race while Carmen Odum and Carsyn Gillikin won their respective races in the final feature race ever held at the track. Promoter Steve Zacharias announced the Myrtle Beach season would continue at Florence Motor Speedway in Timmonsville, which Zacharias would take over promotion of

20520-457: The track's road course. Together the Cup Series and Xfinity Series drew 8 million spectators in 1997, compared to 4 million for both American open-wheel series ( CART and IRL ), which merged in 2008 under the IRL banner. In 2002, 17 of the 20 US top sporting events in terms of attendance were stock car races. Only football drew more television viewers that year. The NASCAR Xfinity Series

20672-553: The track, state, and national Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship. Both races kept their Myrtle Beach lineages. In 2022, the Charlie Powell Memorial 400 celebrated its 30th running. NASCAR and the Zacharias officially recognised the Myrtle Beach 400 as part of the Charlie Powell Memorial lineage. NASCAR Hall of Fame member Dale Earnhardt, Jr. , who raced at Myrtle Beach in his early career, entered

20824-486: The track. That allowed Myrtle Beach's major race weekends to continue in the 2020 season in the Florence-Myrtle Beach metropolitan area. Originally, the land owners' plan was to demolish the facility and build hotels and condos on the property, but it was announced in early July 2021 that the company will not use the land for the original purpose, and the concept for the area fell through. Although it kept

20976-458: Was another top-level race. The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour had one race at the speedway in 2009. After merging the two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tours at the end of the 2016 season, beginning in 2017, the newly unified tour hosted three events at the track from 2017 through 2019. CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series had 24 races at Myrtle Beach between 1998 and 2014. CARS Super Late Model Tour and CARS Late Model Stock Tour had 3 events each at

21128-491: Was born and raised in Kannapolis, North Carolina , the son of Brenda Lorraine Jackson and Dale Earnhardt His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee Sr., was a NASCAR car builder. He has an elder sister, Kelley ; an elder half-brother, Kerry , from his father's first marriage; and a younger half-sister, Taylor Earnhardt-Putnam, from his father's third marriage. He is of part German ancestry. His parents divorced shortly after he

21280-408: Was born, and he and Kelley lived with Brenda Earnhardt until their house was destroyed in a fire when he was six years old. As Brenda had no financial support after the fire, she gave up custody of the two children to Earnhardt Sr. prior to his marriage to Teresa Houston . During Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s childhood, Kelley took care of him while their father and stepmother were busy with the race seasons. At

21432-407: Was caught up in another wreck before Earnhardt flipped. The next day during the 2010 Daytona 500 , Earnhardt made a late charge to the front of the pack. After restarting 10th with two laps to go, Earnhardt used four fresh tires and a series of aggressive moves to make his way to second on the final lap, but his bid for victory was foiled by Jamie McMurray as Earnhardt finished 2nd. Earnhardt enjoyed

21584-421: Was controversial because with five laps to go, it appeared that Earnhardt went below the yellow line to gain position, but NASCAR ruled that Matt Kenseth had forced him below the line, making it a clean pass. He later scored a victory at Phoenix in October, recording a career-best third-place effort in the point standings, with 13 Top 5's and 21 Top 10's. He also took home the NMPA Most Popular Driver award for

21736-521: Was his last chance to participate in the Championship at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI). After the 2007 season, Dale Jr. won the NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award for the 5th consecutive time. After the season, Earnhardt, who had always been fascinated with Australian V8 Supercars , test drove the cars on vacation in Australia. After much speculation, Earnhardt announced on May 10, 2007, that he would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc.,

21888-460: Was inspired by off-road truck racing. Unlike the other two national touring NASCAR series, the Truck Series race pickup truck styled bodies, though it is still considered a stock car series because of its similarity. Much like the Xfinity Series, the Truck Series often features Cup Series drivers competing for parts of the season. The Automobile Racing Club of America was founded in 1953 as

22040-562: Was making the push into the Top 12 of the Nextel Cup standings from his No. 13 position. After being at the No. 2 position during the race, Earnhardt had engine problems on lap 64 and had to end his race day. After the Glen, he tried furiously to reach the 12th spot in standings. However, a resurgence by Kurt Busch and a blown engine during the final race at Richmond ended his Chase hopes. That

22192-441: Was one of the first employees of All Star Racing, initially a Late Model Sportsman (now Xfinity Series) team with Gee as Hendrick's partner, which is now Hendrick Motorsports. Hendrick said about Earnhardt and his uncles, "I can look at Robert Gee Jr., or Jimmy Gee, or Dale Jr. and all I see is Robert Gee. They're the spitting image of him. I go back and look and pictures from when we did things together, and I have to say, I owe Robert

22344-490: Was placed on probation until December 31, 2008. Team owner Rick Hendrick was also docked 50 owner points along with Earnhardt. At Michigan , Earnhardt broke his 76-race winless streak, managing to stretch his fuel mileage enough to allow him to win under a caution on the last lap of a green-white-checkered (overtime) finish. He did not find much success after the Michigan win. He then went back to Talladega Superspeedway for

22496-425: Was pronounced dead at 5:16 pm due to a basilar skull fracture . In the aftermath, many disgruntled fans sent death threats to Marlin and his family, blaming him for the crash; Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip both requested that fans stopped blaming anybody for Earnhardt Sr.'s death, and both the local police and NASCAR investigations into the crash cleared Marlin of any involvement. Earnhardt Jr. raced at Rockingham

22648-569: Was some controversy as Cup Series drivers tended to be more successful than full-time Xfinity drivers. Cup drivers are not eligible to score points in the Xfinity series, and are limited to the number of races they are allowed to race in the Series. Starting in 1995, the NASCAR Truck Series is the third highest ranking stock car series in the United States. The series was the brainchild of then-NASCAR West Coast executive Ken Clapp, who

22800-574: Was the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour , is another prominent modified tour. In many areas of the country late models are usually the highest class of stock cars in local racing. Rules for construction of a late model car vary from region to region and even race track to race track. The most common variations (on paved tracks) include super late models (SLMs), pro Late models (PLMs), late model stock cars (LMSCs), and limited late models (LLMs). A late model may be

22952-471: Was the last major NASCAR event at the track. The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series raced on Saturday nights from late February through November. The track also runs various other classes of racing including Late Model Charger, Super Trucks and Mini Stocks. The speedway is home of the Myrtle Beach 400, IceBreaker 200, NASCAR Racing Experience, Monster Jam, NOPI Nationals and Horry County Fair with recent additions of Wheels of Destruction Thrill Show and

23104-473: Was usually populated by professional or semi-professional stock car drivers, however notable drivers who were famous from other areas of motorsport either took part in single races or for one complete season, they included Colin McRae , Jason Plato , Matt Neal , Darren Manning , Max Papis , John Cleland and former NASCAR drivers Brandon Whitt and Randy Tolsma . The modern BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars are

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