Dale Earnhardt Jr. Exits the Fast Lane on His Own Terms

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in every way a full-grown man—43 years old with a reddish beard sporting patches of gray—but in NASCAR circles he shall forever be thought of as Junior. That infantilizing can be partly blamed on his boyish good looks and rascally charm, though most of it has to do with his late father being a seven-time Winston Cup champion. The racing world had dubbed the latter The Intimidator, born from his habit of methodically stalking his rivals on the racetrack. A healthy percentage of fans that follow stock-car racing will always remember Junior as the smirking towhead grilling his mustachioed old man : “Are you gonna give me some [prize] money when we get home?” Even in the throes of victory, Earnhardt tried to remain the responsible parent. “I doubt it,” he replied. “You spent enough down here this