Jeffrey Earnhardt: A family legacy at stake

Jeffrey Earnhardt in the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover in June, his first race with Hulu as sponsor

     At the end of the 2017 NASCAR season, things are certainly going to be different. Multiple veteran drivers have recently left the track: Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and soon Dale Earnhardt Jr. will hang up the helmet. This is Dale Jr.'s 19th season in Cup, he's been very successful, and extremely popular among fans (including myself). We have yet to see what the series will look like in his absence.
     While a lot of the subject matter of Jr.'s retirement deals with his replacement in the #88 (recently announced as Alex Bowman), fans are being asked who they'll root for in 2018. If Earnhardt Jr. is your favorite driver, what's next? I have a feeling a lot of longtime fans are either thinking Bowman, another young driver such as Chase Elliott, or another veteran driver. Or, Junior nation could lose interest in the sport, something NASCAR is surely dreading, considering they've already lost several well known names since 2015.

Jeffrey Earnhardt

     With the family history, I'm surprised more fans aren't saying they'll cheer for Jeffrey Earnhardt. Jeffrey is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, meaning he is Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s grandson, and Dale Jr.'s nephew. Jeffrey is 28, and is in his first full-time season of the Cup series. He is a 4th generation Cup series drier, only the second ever. While Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. have seen incredible success, Jeffrey is 1) relatively unknown, and 2) a bit of an underdog.
     Jeffrey drives the #33 Hulu Chevy for Circle Sport/TMG, an underfunded team compared to powerhouses like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. He's also had a lot of bad luck. In Earnhardt's 20 races so far this season, he's failed to finish 10. His best finish was 26th, twice, at Daytona and Indianapolis. Mechanical problems have plagued the team, including most recently at Pocono, where Earnhardt made several trips to the garage, only completing 24 laps before retiring for good. The team's cars are substantially slower than the front-runners; Jeffrey's often seen battling drivers like Reed Sorenson, Grey Gaulding, and Timmy Hill for about 35th place. Unfortunately, the best chance to see Jeffrey on TV is when he's being lapped. In the current NASCAR standings, Jeffrey Earnhardt is in 37th place, essentially last among drivers that have been full-time this season. A turning point for Jeffrey was getting sponsorship from Hulu, starting at Dover. Not only does it mean money, but that bright green Chevy is impossible to miss on the track. But so far, the extra support hasn't equated to success.

Jeffrey Earnhardt wrecks at Texas on lap 11 of the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

     For a lot of fans, Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring is the nail in the coffin for their interest in NASCAR. But for diehard fans, having no Earnhardt in the field would be heartbreaking. There have been a lot of families in the sport, and seeing them fade out was a turning point. The Allisons for example: Legendary driver Bobby Allison had a career ending crash at Pocono in 1988, before his son Clifford was killed in a practice crash in 1992, and son Davey died from injuries in a plane crash in 1993. From that moment, the Allison name, and the "Alabama gang" were essentially gone from NASCAR.
     The Pettys had the same heartbreak. Following in the footsteps of Lee, Richard, and Kyle; Adam Petty was the only other 4th generation Cup driver in the sport's history. His first and only Cup race came at Texas in 2000... A promising future ahead of him, Adam died a month later in a practice crash at New Hampshire. After his father Kyle Petty retired in 2008, the Petty name was gone from the track.

Dale Jr. and Jeffrey together before a race in 2016

     There was obviously a lot of pressure on Earnhardt Jr. to succeed when he came to NASCAR. But with Dale Jr.'s retirement in the near future, it can't be much different for Jeffrey. From where he is now, there's a longer road to success. Plus, with his on-track performance this season, who knows if Jeffrey will even have a ride in the 33 next year? You know he doesn't want to be the one to end the Earnhardt legacy.
     If anything though, Jeffrey is certainly not a pretty boy. NASCAR has lost much of its "good ol' boy" aura, that drivers like Earnhardt Sr. brought to the table. The southern stars have been mostly replaced. But Jeffrey is anything but a California kid. In a 2016 interview, Jeffrey sits on his 19-acre property, with not a mansion, but an 800 square foot house. He spends his spare time riding his side-by-side, fishing, even hunting out of helicopters. If not a successful race car driver, Jeffrey is nothing short of a pure outdoorsman, something I'm surprised more fans can't get behind. You can watch the interview here:

     In the end, if things don't work out for Jeffrey, there is one last hope for Earnhardt fans. Last Saturday, Jeffrey's older brother Bobby Dale Earnhardt was on-track at Iowa, qualifying for his first Xfinity race. He didn't make the show, but things look promising for Bobby. He's competed in three ARCA races this season, and is working his way up. Regardless of what happens with Jeffrey's career, my support is certainly there. I'm waiting for my #88 and #33 car decals in the mail right now... They're going side by side on my back bumper.

The Earnhardts who have raced in Cup: Ralph, Dale, Dale Jr, Kerry, and Jeffrey (click on the image for a closer look)