Dale Earnhardt Jr. to enter NASCAR Hall of Fame with father on his mind

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. recognized early he would never be a seven-time NASCAR champion like his dad.

It was unrealistic to believe he would match the late Dale Earnhardt on the track. The Intimidator was tough as nails, didn't tolerate any nonsense and built a winning resume that made him a first ballot Hall of Famer in NASCAR's 2010 inaugural class.

Junior never hoisted the Cup.

But what he did do was build a career as NASCAR's top ambassador, finding a crossover audience that stretches far beyond his father's reach.

«Once I realized that I wasn't going to match dad's statistics on paper… to me, my dad was this really important part of the puzzle, and he was important because of his success but also because of the reaction to whatever he did,» Earnhardt told The Associated Press this week. «I thought, 'Wow, that is an asset, that's what being an asset to the sport is and this guy is valuable.' I wanted to have that same value.»

Earnhardt will join his father in the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Friday night when he is inducted alongside Red Farmer and Mike Stefanik. The hall welcomed five members each of its first 11 years, then tweaked the rules to cut the inductees down to three for the 2021 class.

Earnhardt is the headliner of this first three-member class, whose induction was postponed a full year by the pandemic. He is being celebrated for his performance accomplishments — 26 career Cup Series victories that include a pair of Daytona 500 wins, and two championships in NASCAR's second-tier series — but also for the enormous role he's taken on since his father was killed 21 years ago on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

Earnhardt was a rising star at the start of his second Cup season when his father died. His