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This week saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. return to his famous number 8 Budweiser colors. Despite driving the number 88 of HMS for more seasons in the Cup Series, the red and black DEI Bud 8 car is easily the most iconic scheme of his 18-year career. For this reason, fans were understandably elated to see this scheme take the track again this weekend at Florence Speedway. In qualifying, Little E struggled, having to rely on a promoter’s provisional just to make up the field. Once the green flag flew, though, Junior started slicing and dicing his way through the field. He worked his way up to 2nd with 30 laps to go before a fuel pump issue ended his day prematurely.
We’ve done articles in the past about some of his best moments in this ride. But we Junior Nation members remember when things weren’t so peachy. It wasn’t all smiles and sunshine. There were some dark days. Here are 5 of the worst outings for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in this iconic ride.
One of Dale Jr.’s more popular wins came in 2014 when he finally won at the historic Martinsville Speedway. And he had several good runs at the track. But it took him a while to get a hang of the paperclip. In 2000, Dale had a pretty good first half of the year. He won Texas. He won Richmond and the Winston that year. But, as the year ran on, cracks started to form. They were a Busch Series team that made the leap up to the NASCAR Cup Series, and there were certainly growing pains.
Easily one of the worst races of his 2000 campaign was the NAPA Autocare 500. Dale Jr. started 32nd and he ran in the back for most of that race. He was involved in several on-track incidents that day which resulted in his dad coming over the radio and telling Richard Childress, “Tell that boy to park it”. He literally hit nearly everything that day. He ended the race in the garage and finished 36th.
Following a fairly decent 2000 Winston Cup season for the Bud 8 crew in 2001, they were looking to take that next step. Going into the Daytona 500 that year, Dale Earnhardt Sr. devised a master plan: he, Dale Jr., and Michael Waltrip were going to draft together to win the race. The plan worked almost perfectly, and in the closing laps of that year’s 500, Waltrip was leading, Jr. was in 2nd, and Big E was in 3rd with a hornet’s nest around him. Then it all went wrong. In the final turn of the final lap, Dale Earnhardt tragically lost his life in a crash.
Many fans discuss Little E’s triumph when the series went back to Daytona that July. It was the perfect end to a devastating story. What isn’t talked about as much is just how tough things were immediately after that crash. Throughout his career, one of Dale Jr.’s worst tracks was Rockingham. Just one week after losing his father, Junior had to go to his worst track on the schedule, and he performed terribly. They were slow in both qualifying and practice. It only went from bad to worse when the green flag waived. On the first lap, Junior was bumped from behind by Ron Hornaday Jr. and sent into the wall. The 150-mile-per-hour impact ended his day. He ended up finishing 43rd.
Even by the man himself, 2004 is usually cited as the best year for DEI and the red Bud 8 crew in general. Look at his accomplishments: he won the Daytona 500 and 5 other races that season for a series-high 6 victories. But it seemed that even with all the success, they were always behind and playing catchup. Junior was injured in a sportscar crash at Sonoma, forcing him out of the car for one of the Pocono races. The year was littered with little mistakes that resulted in him ultimately missing out on the series title.
One of his biggest mistakes came at Atlanta in the fall. It was Lap 312, and he was racing Carl Edwards extremely hard in the top-5. That ultimately led to the 8 and 99 cars making contact. Junior spun and collided with the inside wall on the backstretch. Junebug was already in a deep hole, and this crash put the final nail in the coffin when it came to his championship hopes.
Following a great 2004 season, it would be reasonable for any Dale Jr. fan to think he would contend for a title in 2005. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. During the offseason, Dale Jr. made the ill-advised decision to spit from his bid 8 crew and swap teams with Michael Waltrip. Tony Eury Sr. became the competition director, while Tony Eury Jr. was moved to crew chief, the number 15 NAPA Chevy. Dale Jr. was given Pete Rondeau to help the new Bud pit box, but after 15 races, he was swapped out for Steve Hmiel. Junior and the Eurys did eventually reunite for the last 10 races of 2005 but by then, the damage was done.
The worst moment for Dale Jr. in the 2005 season came in that year’s Coca-Cola 600. In this race, Dale Jr. was running horribly and was a lap down, battling with Michael Waltrip, who was running fairly decent. The two teammates collided and got into the wall, ending their respective nights. In response, Tony Eury Sr. took to the media and went after his nephew while Tony Eury Jr. left in a huff. It truly was a low point for DEI.
One of the biggest rivalries of Dale Jr.’s career was with Kyle Busch. The race everyone always points to is, of course, the 2008 Richmond incidents. But the whole thing actually started a year earlier, in 2007, while Dale Jr. was still driving the Bud 8 car. It went down at Texas. Dale Jr. and Busch’s 5 car collided after Tony Stewart spun. The incident wiped both drivers out, sending them to the garage. Kyle Busch refused to talk to the media and left in a huff. Meanwhile, the DEI 8 crew considered their car totaled.
Though Busch left, the five crew members continued working on the car and eventually got it repaired enough to get back out there and finish the race. They tapped Dale Jr. to drive. This incident is often considered the catalyst for Dale Jr.’s DEI departure for Hendrick Motorsports, where he ended up replacing Busch for the 2007 season.
That does it for us, NASCAR fans. What do you make of this list? What do you think are some of the worst moments of Little E’s career in the Bud 8 car? Are you looking forward to seeing him back in it for select races in 2025? Let us know what you’re thinking!
