1st Victory..9 years later!

Can you believe it’s been nine years since Dale Earnhardt, Jr won his first NASCAR Cup Series race? The date was April 2, 2000 and the race was the DirectTV 500 from Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. This was only his 7th start of the 2000 cup season, which was also his Rookie Year. He started outside the second row in 4th, and was dominant the entire race; leading 106 of 334 laps. When asked in Victory Lane if he thought he’d get his 1st victory so soon, he replied “I didn’t think it was actually coming this quick. I can’t believe it. When you put together a car that good, it’s going to get you in victory lane sooner or later.”

That day, Dale Earnhardt his father and car owner finished 7th and parked his #3 Chevy next to Victory Lane and joined in the celebration for his son. That day, Dale Sr told reporters that Dale Jr had been talking about winning at Texas for his first Winston Cup race. He had all the support in the world for his son. At that moment, he became Dale Earnhardt: Proud Papa.

With Dale Jr coming back to the site of his first win, a lot of things are playing in his mind. He and the #88 Amp Energy Drink team are ready for their first win of the 2009 Sprint Cup Series. Last weekend, he finished 8th at Martinsville and are headed to Texas Motor Speedway with momentum. In this race last year, Dale Jr captured the pole, lead 31 laps, and finished 12th.

You can see Dale Jr and the entire 43 car field take on Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 5th, 2009. Coverage starts at 1:30pm/eastern time.