Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently rediscovered one of his old race cars from his early years in motorsports. Elated by the vehicle’s continued existence even after 33 years, Junior took to social media to explain the background story behind the racecar and how it was still kept at storage in Kenny Allison’s old gas station.
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Junior stated, “I just left a storage shed that was an old gas station. It’s owned by Kenny Allison, Donnie’s son. Inside is my original Legends car that I drove and won with in 1990.”
I ain’t seen this car in 33 years
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) December 8, 2023
Adding that after he was done racing in the car his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr. sold it off to John Ray in Alabama for his son to drive in races. After John had finished racing in the Legends car, he gave it to Allison and the car has been kept there since then.
“I’m 100% sure it’s the car because I welded a gusset on the LR shock mount that is still there today. I can’t believe this thing still exists.” Junior elaborated that he had not seen the racecar once in the past 33 years.
When did Dale Earnhardt Jr. race in the Legends Cars?
Junior began racing at the age of 17 back in 1992 in a Legends car that resembled the 1937 Ford. The series began just that year and all of the legends cars were built with inspirations taken from coupe cars from the 1930s.
Junior’s racecar featured an all-white paint scheme with red or black lettering on the side reading the number eight. The car was a tribute to his grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt who too used to race in NASCAR.
My first ever! Put the bumper to my car owner in turn 4. He kept all the but I got to keep the . https://t.co/MZJg83KHn4
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) August 2, 2016
Later on during the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1992, Junior ended up clinching the win driving the Legends car over Hank Jones by passing him on the very last lap of the race. Interestingly, he picked up his first-ever win just a day before he turned 18 years old. Thereafter, the rest is history.
