Championship
driver and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been named the recipient of the
prestigious Myers Brothers Award for 2014.
Earnhardt, 40, was
chosen by a vote of the National Motorsports Press Association and presented
the award during Thursday’s annual NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon
held at the Wynn Las Vegas.
The Myers Brothers
Award is named in honor of brothers Billy and Bobby Myers, two of NASCAR’s
pioneers from the 1950s. It has been presented annually since 1958 with the
purpose of recognizing those that have provided outstanding contributions to
the sport of stock car racing.
Eighth in this
year’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, Earnhardt qualified for
the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup for the seventh time and finished the
season with four victories, 12 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes.
He is a 23-time
winner in Sprint Cup, twice a champion in the NASCAR Busch (now XFINITY) Series
as a driver, and a three-time champion of that series as co-team owner. But it
is his care and concern for both the history and the future of the sport that
has elevated the third-generation driver to being more than a successful
competitor.
Along with sister
Kelly Earnhardt Miller and Sprint Cup team owner Rick Hendrick, Earnhardt’s JR
Motorsports organization has become a successful pipeline for grooming talent
at the track as well as at the race shop.
In 2014, JR
Motorsports driver Chase Elliott became the youngest driver to win the
Nationwide Series championship, and is expected to make a handful of Sprint Cup
starts for Hendrick Motorsports in 2015 while also defending his series title.
Elliott and teammate Regan Smith finished 1-2 in the series’ points standings.
Elliott’s crew
chief Greg Ives will join Earnhardt next season as crew chief for the No. 88
Sprint Cup team at HMS.
Just this week,
JRM announced that Dave Elenz and Jason Burdett had been named crew chiefs for
two of the organization’s three teams. Elenz previously served as an engineer
on the No. 88 and 48 teams at Hendrick Motorsports while Burdett, who does have
crew chief experience, was a car chief for eight seasons at HMS.
Such moves,
Earnhardt Jr., said, “gives us the opportunity to call up some of the best
talent at Hendrick Motorsports and give them a shot at taking the next step in
their careers.
“That is the sort
of foundation on which we built this company.”
Brad Keselowski,
the 2012 Sprint Cup champion, competed full-time for JRM in 2008 and ’09,
finishing third in points each year. Sprint Cup competitors Aric Almirola,
Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt also have driven for the team full-time, with
each earning top-10 points finishes.
Fellow Sprint Cup
driver Martin Truex Jr. won back-to-back Busch Series titles (2004-05) when the
team was known as Chance2 Motorsports and operated in conjunction with Dale
Earnhardt Inc.
Earnhardt Jr.
isn’t attracted to only the upper levels of NASCAR competition. He is one of
the few NASCAR team owners that have given back to grassroots racing by
fielding full-time operations for regional short-track racing as well. He has
fielded Street Stock or Late Model entries at local short tracks since starting
JRM.
This season, his
Late Model drivers Josh Berry and William Byron finished first and second,
respectively, in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series at historic Hickory
Motor Speedway. The sweep gave JRM 1-2 points finishes in both series in which
it competed full-time in ’14.
It was the second
LM championship in three years for the organization, as Berry won the title at
Motor Mile Speedway in 2012.
Berry also made
two Nationwide Series starts for JRM this season.
“I can’t take a
lot of credit for how well we’ve done,” Earnhardt Jr. said of the group. “I
know we’ve got a lot of people that have come into our company and influenced
that. Kelley has steered the ship, and people like Greg Ives and the Eurys
(Tony Sr. and Tony Jr.), all these people that have been through the company
that have helped us climb another rung on the ladder one year at a time to
(get) to where we are.”
Earnhardt Jr.’s
off-track endeavors have been just as noteworthy. This past season, he
facilitated his 235th meeting through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a
total that ranks among the top five for all professional athletes.
And the Dale Jr.
Foundation raised a record $913,000 for distribution to 70 charities in 2014.
The Foundation’s focus is to give underprivileged individuals, particularly
youngsters, the resources to improve their confidence and education.
Others receiving
votes for the 2014 Myers Brothers Award were ESPN and series sponsors Sprint
and Nationwide Insurance.
Myers Brothers
Award Winners
2014, Dale
Earnhardt Jr.; 2013, Tony Stewart; 2012, Jeff Gordon; 2011, Drs. Joseph &
Rose Mattioli; 2010, Jim Hunter; 2009, Barney Hall; 2008, T. Taylor Warren;
2007, Bill France Jr.; 2006, Benny Parsons; 2005, Rusty Wallace; 2004, Kyle and
Patti Petty; 2003, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; 2002, Mike Helton; 2001, Dale
Earnhardt; 2000, Kyle Petty; 1999, Junie Donlavey; 1998, T. Wayne Robertson;
1997, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; 1996, Rick Hendrick; 1995, TNN: The Nashville
Network; 1994, Brickyard 400/Indianapolis Motor Speedway; 1993, Goody’s
Manufacturing Co.; 1992, Richard and Lynda Petty; 1991, Harry Gant; 1990; Dick
Beaty; 1989, Bill France Jr.; 1988 Richmond International Raceway; 1987, ESPN;
1986, Hayride 500; 1985, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; 1984, Charlotte Motor
Speedway; 1983, CBS-TV; 1982, MRN; 1981, Junior Johnson; 1980, STP &
Champion Spark Plug Co.; 1979, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; 1978, Busch Beer;
1977, First National City Travelers Checks; 1976, Junior Johnson; 1975, Bill
France Sr.; 1974, H. Clay Earles; 1973, Wood Brothers; 1972, Winston
Cigarettes; 1971, Richard Petty; 1970, Richard Howard; 1969, David Pearson;
1968, Wood Brothers; 1967, Richard Petty; 1966, Norris Friel; 1965, Ned
Jarrett; 1964, Richard Petty; 1963, Marvin Panch; 1962, Hank Schoolfield; 1961,
Ned Jarrett; 1960, Russ Catlin; 1959, Lee Petty; 1958, Bob Colvin.
CONGRATULATIONS Jr. you deserve this for all the hard work and promoting you do for the racing community. You set a proud EXAMPLE your daddy would be proud
ReplyDeleteDale Junior is the reason I watch motorsports. He is as captivating an individual I have ever heard or read about. He appears to be a humble person, not full of bravado, but when he needs to make a point…he makes it very clearly. His insight is always well thought out and presented with care.
ReplyDeleteI have listened to Dale Jr. since his call in show on XM years ago. He show was funny, his charm and wit unmatched…and a great spokesman for his sport. As far as I’m concerned, he has earned his accolades.
Congrad’s Dale Jr.