Dale Jr.'s impact on NASCAR goes far beyond his driving career

Long before Tuesday’s announcement at Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt put the wheels in motion for the future of the sport.

While NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver will no longer wheel a car full-time in the Monster Energy Cup Series after this year, his legacy will be felt in the lives he’s changed along the way.

The formation of Jr Motorsports

Two years after his father’s passing in 2001, Earnhardt evolved into his ownership role. Under the Chance 2 banner, Earnhardt put a young, unknown driver named Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 81 Chevrolet in what was then the Busch Series. In 2005, JR Motorsports was born.

While his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller oversees the daily operation of Jr Motorsports — and the organization couldn’t function without her — Junior provides the heart and soul of the team.

It’s a role he relishes.

“I really enjoy being in the Xfinity Series,” Earnhardt said. “There is a reward that I get from helping people achieve their goals and get to the next level. Luckily, with our relationship with Rick (Hendrick, team owner and JRM partner), we’ve been able to accelerate that and make things happen for a lot of people whether it be drivers, crew chiefs, aspiring crew chiefs.

“That’s really so rewarding to me. That’s really even greater than the wins, is to see somebody get a job somewhere on the Cup level, getting an opportunity to step up. I feel like we’re doing it right. We’re giving people that platform, that springboard, and I don’t know if you could replicate that anywhere else. I really enjoy that.

Developing future stars

Over the last 13 seasons, JRM has provided opportunities to up-and-coming racers — and veterans looking to compete in some of the best equipment that the Xfinity Series has to offer.

Former and aspiring champions have used JRM as a launching pad for NASCAR’s top tour. In addition to Truex, who has become a perennial contender since joining Furniture Row Racing, Brad Keselowski sharpened his skills for three seasons in the No. 88 Chevy prior to winning titles in Cup and Xfinity with Team Penske.

Danica Patrick made the transition from IndyCar to stock cars under JRM’s guidance. Chase Elliott won the 2014 Xfinity title with JRM and was NASCAR’s top Cup rookie last season. Cole Custer had a successful run in JRM’s truck venture — scoring the first of two wins for the company. And William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports’ latest development driver, is currently refining his talent in the No. 9 Chevy on the NXS tour.

Veteran Cup drivers such as Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and even Earnhardt himself have won under the JRM banner. Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier have revitalized their careers there while Regan Smith extended his competitive drive-time.

In addition to the jobs JRM has provided after other shops have shuttered, the company has offered development opportunities for mechanics, engineers, crew chiefs and pit crews. Earnhardt’s current crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports — Greg Ives — graduated to Cup after leading Elliott’s championship team at JRM.

Earnhardt still plans to run a limited schedule with JRM in 2018, but he plans on taking a greater role as a mentor to the teams.

“I’ve worked with all the guys that we’ve had at JR Motorsports,” Earnhardt said. “There’s a time and a place. A lot of guys learn from their own mistakes. If you watch them from a very short distance, especially when you’re the owner of the car you keep a very short distance. You watch them makes these mistakes and you seen them learn from them. If they don’t quite learn from them, you step in there and you say, ‘This is what happened there and this is why that happened.’ And if they don’t understand what went wrong there, they continue to make that mistake again.

“That might be how he communicates or it might be something off the race track.His interaction with the sponsors. You handle it by a case-to-case basis. Every guy excepts that criticism a little differently. So the delivery is really important. Some guys want you to come in banging your fists on the table. Other guys want you to put your arm around them, play some basketball and talk it out. But I enjoy the race team that we have at JR Motorsports and the fact that we’ve graduated so many people. And that’s something that I look forward to over the next several years as we continue to be a breeding ground for talented men and women that are mechanics and crew chiefs and drivers.

“Our connection to HMS, is critical to our having success and to be able to do that but we’ve worked really hard to where we’re assets for each other.The relationship has to work both ways. We work very hard to make it benefits Hendrick Motorsports as well as makes them better on Sunday and we intend to keep that going.”

And Earnhardt's post-racing contributions will benefit the sport long after he retires.