Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with the latest and fourth generation racer from the legendary Earnhardt family. 21 year old Jeffrey is the second child of Dale Earnhardt’s first born son, Kerry, and great grandson to Ralph Earnhardt. If you didn’t know this young man’s name and you spotted him anywhere you would know who he is. He looks very much like his father and therefore like Dale, Sr.
I began by asking him to comment, to any degree or length he wanted, about being the 4th generation of such an important racing and legendary family.
“The fact that I am the 4th generation athlete and 4th generation driver is pretty cool. It definitely shows how far back the Earnhardt name goes. I’m told I am the first professional 4th generation athlete in the U.S and that’s pretty cool, too. It means a lot to me to keep the legacy going of the Earnhardt name and that’s what I’m out here trying to do. I’m also just being myself. Everybody tells me that I remind them of my Grandfather a lot just because of the things I do like hunting and fishing, just being an outdoors man. He was the same way so it definitely means a lot to me.”
We spoke about the ongoing, over the years debate regarding race car drivers being athletes and that he called himself the 4th generation athlete before mentioning the fact that he is a 4th generation driver. Why?
“Like you said, it’s been a debate whether we are athletes or not. We are athletes. Someone who can make this look easy is definitely an athlete because the temperatures that we have to withstand are a lot more than people realize. In my 1st Truck race it was 105 degrees outside and 130 inside the truck plus you have your fire suit, the fireproof underwear that we have to wear, the helmet, the gloves, shoes, it’s all that stuff that you have to wear for the safety side of it that people don’t understand. Even to be conditioned enough to go 200 miles is tough and the biggest thing I do is just to try to stay fit by going to the gym and trying to eat a little healthier and to just make my body better so I can run these races. I’ve been working on this a lot lately, working on some cardio stuff too. I feel much better doing this and in the long run it does help by being in the gym so much and working my butt off because I’m still good to go when other drivers are feeling tired and worn out. I do this because this is my year to prove what I can do.”
“I’ve been out of the driver’s seat for the past 2 years, just doing part time stuff and this is a big wake up call to realize you’ve got to take advantage of every opportunity you get to really show what you can do and I’m trying to do everything I can on my part by staying in shape and playing iRacing. Whatever it can be to help you be a better driver is definitely a good way to do that. Now that I’ve got a full season opportunity, I want to show what I can do and prove to people that I belong here and need to be in this sport.”
I read early in this race season that Jerry Nadeau was hired to be a coach and mentor for Jeffrey. What has that meant to him and his racing efforts?
“He has showed me that the biggest part of it is the mental side of it, just being patient and let things come to me, only doing what the (NASCAR Camping World) truck is capable of, not pushing the issue and things he learned coming through his ranks of racing and getting to where he was. He came to Daytona and was at Phoenix so he was a big help for the mental part of it, like I said, and it was good to have him there to tell me to wait for the truck to come to me. He said I wasn’t going out there and be the fastest thing on the track and that it takes time so that’s what I’m doing. I’m trying to get out there and learn as much as I can and better myself as a driver.”
I asked him about the Rookie stripe and how he feels it affects his reception by the other drivers?
“It’s tough because at places like Daytona and Talladega it’s hard to get people to work with you. I feel like at Daytona I had quite a bit of good help from people like Kyle Busch and a couple of other guys that kind of worked with me. I was surprised that they did because I wasn’t expecting them to because of the simple fact that I’m a Rookie and they knew that going in to the race. The fact that they did work with me meant a lot to me as a driver and to see that some of these guys are willing to give us Rookies a chance to work together to prove what we can do was a big help. All the veterans are really good with helping. I’ve talked with several drivers. Brendan Gaughan, David Starr, Todd Bodine, and Johnny Sauter. I talked with them all because I was really struggling there and they all gave me good advice. I obviously messed up in practice and had to go to a backup car but after really talking with everybody and getting a good idea of their advice because they’ve been there and been through situations like I’ve been put in, it helped a lot. We came out with a 20th place finish in our backup car after starting dead last. It definitely wasn’t the run we wanted, but I don’t think it was a bad run. But with the circumstances we started with it turned out better because of the simple fact of having the help those guys gave me. The veterans are definitely a big help for sure.”
“We’re a smaller team compared to some of these teams who’ve got a good established team. They’re good and it shows. They run up front every week and for what we’ve got we’re doing a pretty good job. Joe Lax (who got his start in NASCAR from Dale Earnhardt, Sr.) is a great Crew Chief and he does a good job of making sure I’ve got a truck that’s as good as possible underneath me going in to each weekend. We seem to work really well together and we have a lot of fun. That’s the main thing and I feel like we really understand each other. That’s big for a driver and a Crew Chief so all of that is definitely going good in my opinion and there are things we’re trying to get better in our program week in and week out. Anytime we have hiccups like we had at Darlington where we wreck a truck, we have to take time to fix it instead of focusing on making it better as much as we would like. We’ve just got to come out of these races with our nose clean and get all the laps we can so we can keep bettering ourselves and making our program more successful.”
“I go to the shop to talk with Joe and hang out with guys and let them know how I appreciate all of their hard work. That goes a long way with those guys because they’re the ones working their butts off.”
Jeffrey currently lives in Charlotte about 20 minutes from the downtown area and about an hour away from the shop in Thomasville. It’s more of a busy area than what he is used to he said. He is originally from the outskirts of Moorseville, “in the country part” as he described it and while Charlotte is not quite what he is used to, it is a good area for a 21 year old. And his 2 year old chow mix named Zoey keeps him company. “She’s definitely the sweetest dog I’ve ever had,” he said. “She keeps me busy when I’m home and she’s definitely an attention hog. She begs for attention and won’t leave you alone until you give it to her. She’s a family member to me and she’s a spoiled child of mine. She keeps me on the good side of life for sure. She’s so loving it’s unreal.”
I am never in short supply of questions and I wanted to get to know this young man as much as our interview time allowed so I asked him what he does when he wants to get away or has some time off from the hectic race schedule? What are his hobbies?
“I like to hunt and fish, anything in the outdoors. I like to go camping and just get away from everything, to just relax when I get the opportunity. I’ve got a big tent. I also like to hang out and spend some time with my friends. It’s good to take the breaks we get, relax and just enjoy life because you never know what day is going to be your last. I’m a firm believer in living life to it’s fullest and enjoy it the best way you can and making sure you have no regrets. I don’t ever want to regret anything I’ve done or regret not doing something. I definitely like to try to enjoy life the best way I can, make the most of it. I think I do a pretty good job of that. Normally if you do that you don’t seem to be so frustrated and worked up all the time.”
“When I go hunting, just to sit in the tree stand, even if you don’t see anything, you’re up in the tree all by yourself and just relaxing. To me that’s one of the most relaxing things to do, to get outdoors and spend time with friends.”
I asked Jeffrey if the death of his grandfather when he was only 11 years old could, in some way, be responsible for his thoughts on never knowing “what day is going to be your last” ?
“Any loss in your family is a big opener to that (feeling). You’ve got to realize that you don’t know when your last day with family members is going to be. You need to enjoy them as much as you can and spend as much time with them as you can because you never know what is going to happen or what tomorrow will bring. You definitely don’t want to go out thinking you didn’t do something you should have. As I said, I try to live life to it’s fullest, do as much as I can and have no regrets. I try to do the best I can to get the most out of life and that’s taken me a long way in learning to deal with some things in life. I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the last few years, learned to enjoy the better things in life and the way to live.”
In the mission statement on his website it states that success must be earned and that their goal is to be the hardest working team in motorsports. What specifically does that mean to him?
“The main thing is that I know I am earning what I’ve got. When I had my contract with DEI everybody just wanted to say that I was racing there because of my last name, and was driving for my Grandfather’s company and getting help from them. That’s not the case now. I get no support from the family. I’m doing this on my own and I want to make sure everybody realizes that so they can’t be saying that he’s just here because of his last name or because he’s driving for his family because now I’m not. Like I said I was out of a ride for 2 years doing just part time stuff and this opportunity came along and we put it together and did it all with just me and my business partners at JEI. I think the biggest thing is we want people to know we’re doing this on our own and not through Dale Earnhardt Incorporated or whoever they want to say is the reason I’m here. I’m earning what I’ve got and I’m not out here living off the family name.”
“I just want the fans to watch for us in every race we run in the (Rick Ware Racing) #1 Fuel Doctor Chevrolet this year and hopefully we’ll be able to come away with some good finishes and give our fans something to cheer about. And check us out on Facebook, Jeffrey Earnhardt, and just support us as fans. We’ve actually just started our Facebook page so there isn’t a lot there yet. Look for Jeffrey Earnhardt Athlete, it’s like a fan page. We’re up to like 200 fans or something like that. It’s not much right now, but we’re trying to get more people to go to it more.”
This young racer has come to his first full time season in the Camping World Truck series a little older than some of the rookies do in this day and age. But this may just show that a more mature racer is just as, if not more, desirable in many ways. Jeffrey is pleasant, very mature, extremely likable, open, frank, obviously marketable, VERY independent and extremely dedicated. What’s not to admire here? Add the talent and he is “the whole package”.
But everyone knows it takes money, and a lot of it, to be competitive regardless of the talent. You can’t get a degree to become a success on the driving side of this business. Rick Ware Racing has seen the potential in Jeffrey Earnhardt and is doing everything they can to help him with this stage of his career. They are to be commended for their efforts, but RWR is one of the quite a few under funded teams in the Camping World Truck Series so it will be extremely difficult for Jeffrey to “prove to people”, to truly showcase what he is capable of on the track. It is important to note here again that this young man along with his business partners, who believe in him and share his dream, have put this season’s deal together solely on their own. There is no famous name benefit for JE’s efforts. More sponsorship dollars are needed to turn this rookie in to the racing star he can and deserves to be.
Do I hear the roar of an upcoming and growing “J.E. Nation” forming? I hope so. I genuinely like this guy and wish him great success and a lengthy well earned, on his own, career.
Be sure to check out his website at www.jeffreyearnhardt.com to learn more about him, his team, and sponsors. Contact information is also available there if you are a corporation who shares his dream and wants to be a part of it.
P.S. I did check out his facebook page and became one of his “like” group. Why not help this guy grow his following and do the same?
