Kerry Earnhardt

Kerry Dale Earnhardt (born December 8 1969 in Kannapolis, North Carolina) is the eldest son of the late seven time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt. He is the half-brother of NASCAR Sprint Cup star Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He is employed by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as a consultant, specializing in driver development. His youngest son, Jeffrey Earnhardt, began racing for DEI in 2007.

Kerry's mother, Latane Brown, was Dale Earnhardt's first wife; the couple divorced when Kerry was only one year of age, and Latane Brown eventually married Jack Key, who adopted Kerry. Until he was 16, Kerry saw little of his biological father. [http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/07/17/spo_nascarearnhardt001.cfm]

Racing career

In December 2007, he announced, in a year-end letter to his fans on his website kerryearnhardtonline.com, that he had retired as a competitive driver. He is still an active test driver for DEI, But In July 2008 he will attempt the Daytona 250 Nationwide Series race for DEI. In 2008, he did race for DEI, in the Nationwide Series on July 4.

His last appearance in a national touring series was a July 7, 2007 Busch Series event at Daytona International Speedway, the Winn Dixie 250. He finished 25th in the #63 Team Glock Chevrolet.

His 2002 run for FitzBradshaw Racing in the Busch Series was his only full season in any of NASCAR's Big 3 series (Cup, Busch/Nationwide, and Truck), and he finished 22nd in the points. He scored 3 top 5s and 6 top 10s in the Busch Series.

In 2005 he raced in seven NEXTEL Cup races, six for Richard Childress Racing in the #33. His highest finish was a 17th place run at Talladega.

In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he won the pole for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 race in 2005, but he lost his ride after 2 races was released due to lack of sponsorship. For the 2006 season, Earnhardt signed with ThorSport Racing and drove the #13 Chevrolet with occasional sponsorship from the National Pork Board. Kerry's best finish of the season was an 11th at Nashville and Las Vegas. At the conclusion of the season, Kerry and ThorSport Racing went their separate ways.

He scored a pole, 8 top 5s and 40 top 10s as well as 1994 Rookie of the Year Honors at his local track in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series.

He has had his greatest success in the ARCA Re/Max Series, winning 4 of 11 races with 7 top 5s and 8 top 10s. In 2001, the same year his father was killed at Daytona, Earnhardt was involved in a crash in an ARCA race at Charlotte which killed his good friend Blaise Alexander.

He has raced in the NASCAR Winston West Series, scoring 2 top 5s and 5 top 10s in 8 races.

He has scored 2 top 5s and 8 top 10s in 11 races in the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series.

Family life

He and wife René married in 1999, and have a daughter, Kayla.

From their previous marriages, Kerry has two sons, Bobby and Jeffrey, and René has a daughter, Blade.

Jeffrey Earnhardt currently races in the NASCAR Camping World East Series for Andy Santerre Motorsports and marks a fourth generation of Earnhardts in professional motor sports.

External links

* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=earnhke01 Driver's statistics at racing-reference.info]
* [http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/kearnhar00/truck/index.html Biography at nascar.com]
* [http://www.kerryearnhardtfans.com/ Fan website]
* [http://www.kerryearnhardtonline.com/ Official website]