Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for NASCAR on NBC. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for his team JR Motorsports. He is the son of Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He is also the grandson of NASCAR driver Ralph Earnhardt, the brother of Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, the half-brother of former driver Kerry Earnhardt and the uncle of driver Jeffrey Earnhardt.
Earnhardt’s success at Daytona International Speedway throughout his career earned him the nickname “Pied Piper” of Daytona. He is a two-time Daytona 500 winner (2004 and 2014), and has won the Most Popular Driver Award fifteen consecutive times from 2003 to 2017.
After driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI), his father’s team in the NASCAR Cup Series, for much of his early Cup career, he moved to Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 88 in 2008. He remained with HMS until his retirement as a full-time driver in 2017. Earnhardt retired with 26 wins in the Cup Series, a total that ranks him tied for 31st in NASCAR history (with Fred Lorenzen) as of March 2021.