Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been voted by membership of the National Motorsports Press Association as a 2021 inductee into the NMPA Hall of Fame in Darlington, S.C. Although he and 20-time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser were selected as 2021 inductees, they won’t officially be inducted until 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They will be inducted along with the HOF class of 2022.
Earnhardt won 26 races in his Cup Series career that spanned 631 races between 1999 and 2017. He contested five races in NASCAR’s top series in 1999 before going full-time in the series the following year. His wins include two Daytona 500 victories in 2004 and 2014
Earnhardt also was named the series’ Most Popular Driver a record 16-consecutive seasons between 2002 and 2017.
Before going full-time Cup Series racing, Earnhardt won back-to-back championships in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 1998 and 1999.
Earnhardt remains a team owner in the Xfinity Series, as co-owner of JR Motorsports. JRM has three Xfinity Series championships with three different drivers — Chase Elliott in 2014, William Byron in 2017 and Tyler Reddick in 2018.
