Who is Dale Earnhardt Jr ?

Years: 1999-2007
Sponsor: Budweiser
Owner: Teresa Earnhardt
Crew Chief: Tony Eury
Car: Chevrolet
Hometown: Kannapolis, N.C.

Rookie Season: Started five races in 1999. Official rookie season was 2000 which featured two wins (Texas and Richmond) and two poles (Charlotte and Michigan). Did not win Rookie Of The Year, Matt Kenseth beat him for that honor.

2004 Daytona 500 champion
Career-high six victories in 2004
Voted Most Popular Driver from 2003 to 2006
Has finished among the top 10 in the series championship four of the last six seasons
NASCAR Busch Series champion in 1998 and '99

7 Winston Cup victories
2002: Won both Talladega events
2001: Won three times, including Pepsi 400 at

Daytona
2000: Won The Winston
1999: Busch Series champion
1998: Busch Series champion

2007 Announced plans midseason to join Hendrick Motorsports at start of 2008 season.

Dale Jr. now drives the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet Impala SS in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series for Hendrick Motorsports, and drives in the Nationwide Series part-time for the #5 car for his own team, JR Motorsports.

Before he was the face of NASCAR's new generation, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was very proud of his skills as an oil changer at his father's car dealership in North Carolina.

"If I wasn't racing, I'd be working at my dad's Chevrolet dealership," said Earnhardt Jr. "It was only a couple of years ago that I was the fastest oil-change man in the place."

His career began meekly, as he and brother Kerry sold a go-kart for $500 so that they could buy an old Monte Carlo racecar for $200. Legend has it that Junior later sold that car to current Busch Series driver Hank Parker Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. took his first green flag at the Concord Speedway in the street stock division at the age of 17. He garnered three feature victories from 1994-96.

Just two years later, Earnhardt Jr. dominated the Busch Series, winning 13 races and two series championships in 1998-99. His first title in 1998 made him the first third-generation NASCAR champion, joining father Dale Sr. and grandfather Ralph. His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee, was a well-known NASCAR fabricator and mechanic.

Junior wasted no time making an impact in NASCAR's elite series when he entered in 2000. He won at Texas in his 12th career start and at Richmond in his 16th start. He also became the first rookie to win NASCAR's all-star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

It also didn't take long for Junior to become the unofficial poster boy of the sport. He's appeared on countless magazine covers, numerous television talk shows and was the focus of two MTV documentaries: "Cribs" and "True Life, I'm a Race Car Driver."

Junior is also a co-owner of "Chance 2 Motorsports," a Busch Series race team.