Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Amy Earnhardt performed the induction of her husband Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr said: “My eyes are already watering. To join Dad in the Hall of Fame is probably as good as it’s going to get I was a mechanic at a dealership. That was my destiny, or so I thought. I changed the oil in thousands of cars.” “How do you explain someone who makes every day of your life better?” to his wife Amy.
15-TIME MOST POPULAR DRIVER
The son of “The Intimidator,” Earnhardt Jr. made his own path and served as the face of NASCAR for many years with 15 consecutive Most Popular Driver awards
He began his career at family-owned Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) winning back-to-back Xfinity Series titles and 13 races in two full-time seasons. He quickly moved to the Cup Series where he won in his 12th career start.
Like his father, Earnhardt Jr. was a master of the draft and thrived in restrictor plate racing; Ten of his 26 Cup victories came at Daytona and Talladega, including Daytona 500 wins in 2004 and 2014.
In 2006, Earnhardt founded JR Motorsports, adding team owner to his resume. The team has three Xfinity Series championships and 47 wins.
Earnhardt currently serves as an analyst for NBC Sports and hosts the popular podcast ‘Dale Jr. Download.’
HOMETOWN
Kannapolis, NC
BORN
10/10/1974
CUP SERIES STATS
COMPETED
1999-2017
STARTS / WINS / POLES
631 / 26 / 15
XFINITY CHAMPIONSHIPS
1998, 1999
Red Farmer
Tony Stewart inducted his friend Red Farmer. Tony Stewart said: “He’s a racer’s racer and he deserves to be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.” Red Farmer said: “It’s something that gets in your blood, and you can’t get it out,”
A RECORD OF EXCELLENCE
While it’s unknown exactly how many wins Red Farmer accumulated, it’s somewhere north of 700.
His passion for the sport is likewise immeasurable. After all, he continues to race, even as he approaches 90 years of age.
But the record books do have a few things that are black-and-white and proof positive about this member of the Alabama Gang. He collected three consecutive championships in NASCAR’s Late Model Sportsman division from 1969-71, long after he won the Modified title in 1956.
Though he preferred racing in the Late Model Sportsman division, Farmer did run 36 Cup Series races, with a best finish of fourth (twice).
In 1998, Farmer’s many successes – clearly too many to officially count – landed him on the list of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
HOMETOWN
Hueytown, AL
BORN
10/15/1932
CHAMPIONSHIPS
LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN
1969, 1970, 1971
MODIFIED
1956
Mike Stefanik
NASCAR Hall of Fame Crew Chief Ray Evernham inducted Mike Stefanik into the Hall. Julie Stefanik’s wife accepted the induction for her husband. Julie Stefanik said: “This is a huge honor, and I know Michael would have been very humbled.”
Stefanik, a hard-nosed New Englander, drove modifieds with a relentless tenacity that carried him to seven Whelen Modified Tour titles. Stefanik, who died in 2019 at age 61 from injuries sustained in the crash of a private plane, also collected two championships in what was then the Busch North Series.
At the very top of the list of all-time NASCAR championships sit two men: NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans and Mike Stefanik.
Each tallied nine in their exemplary careers, with Stefanik’s coming in both the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
Seven of his titles came in his primary racing series – the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. In 2003, he was named one of the Tour’s 10 Greatest Drivers, an obvious choice if there ever was one – Stefanik holds the all-time series record in wins, poles, top fives and top 10s.
Stefanik won two championships consecutively in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition, in 1997-98. That, along with a win total that ties for ninth on the all-time series wins list, earned him a spot on the Top 10 Drivers of the First 25 Years of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East list in 2011.
In addition, Stefanik spent one full-time season in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series – and it was a successful one. He captured the Rookie of the Year Award in 1999.
HOMETOWN
Coventry, RI
BORN
05/20/1958
DIED
09/15/2019
STATS
COMPETED
1985-2014
MODIFIED CHAMPIONSHIPS
1989, ’91, ’97-98, ’01-02, ’06
PRO SERIES EAST CHAMPIONSHIPS
1997, 1998
STARTS / WINS / POLES
453 / 74 / 48
NASCAR
http://www.nascar.com/
Graphics & Photos Courtesy of NASCAR