Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American stock car racing driver. He competes occasionally in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for his team JR Motorsports. A third generation driver, he is the son of 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative to many former and current drivers in the NASCAR ranks.
After driving the No. 8 Chevrolet 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 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 for 32nd in NASCAR history (with Fred Lorenzen) as of March 2023. He is a two-time champion of the Xfinity Series, winning in 1998 and 1999.[3] Since his last season in Cup, Earnhardt has worked as a broadcaster for NASCAR on NBC.
Earnhardt's success at Daytona International Speedway throughout his career earned him the nickname "Pied Piper" of Daytona.[4] 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