Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr., was born October 10th, 1974 in Concord, North Carolina with the Earnhardt fire in his belly. Although his parents were separated when he was still a toddler, he is still very close to both his parents. A fire that burned down his mother’s house forced him and his sister, Kelly, to live with Earnhardt Sr. and his new wife, Teresa, while his mother moved to Virginia. Earnhardt Jr. was a bit of a rascal in his younger days so when his father saw fit to send him to military school for two years although, by the time Earnhardt Jr. reached the age of 15, he decided to be like his father.
When he was 17, Earnhardt Jr. managed to pull together $500 after scrimping and saving to buy his first racecar from a junkyard. It was a 1979 Monte Carlo that needed a lot of work. Then he, his half-brother, Kerry, and father worked at fixing it up. His father was only determined to help with rebuilding the racecar and nothing more. Earnhardt Jr. was left on his own devices once he got behind the wheel to learn how to build up his own skills. Once high school was over, Earnhardt Jr. enrolled for a two year course at the Mitchell Community College in North...