Earnhardt to Race in the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Ala. (Mar 20) – Over the years racing has seen a handful of true family dynasties. Legendary names that have regularly visited Victory Lane generation after generation. The Andrettis, the Pettys, the Unsers and, of course, the Earnhardts.
For more than a half-?century, the Earnhardt name has been a fixture in NASCAR, from
racing patriarch Ralph to seven-?time champion Dale Sr. to current Sprint Cup Series star Dale Jr. Now along comes the fourth generation of this racing clan, Jeffrey Earnhardt, who is competing full-?time this season in the Grand Am Rolex Series GT class.
Earnhardt will be at Barber Motorsports Park March 30 through March 31st to compete in
the Porsche 250 Grand-?Am race, which will be held in conjunction with the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy. And though he has never been to BMP and is a newcomer to the Grand Am Series, Earnhardt said he knows he will have some fans in attendance simply because of his last name.
“The Earnhardt name is huge. It’s pretty unreal all the people who are diehard Earnhardt fans,” said 22-?year-?old Jeffrey Earnhardt, who is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, the grandson of Dale Sr. and the nephew of Dale Jr. “It’s neat for me to see how much people looked up to my grandfather. It definitely makes it a lot of fun and interesting to do autograph sessions and be able to mingle with the fans and hear their stories about meeting my grandfather or my dad or my uncle.”
While his last name is his current source of fame, Jeffrey Earnhardt is working toward
making a name for himself with his racing. Over the past four years he has made appearances in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series and K&N Series East. He has shown a fondness for road courses, turning in solid showings at Watkins Glen, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal and Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. He is driving for Rick Ware Racing in the Grand Am Series this year, with a long-?term goal of eventually
making it to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
“For some reason road courses were something I took to in stock cars,” Earnhardt said.
“Road racing is a lot of fun. I really enjoy doing it. And the opportunity was there this year
with Rick Ware Racing. It’s another step toward Sprint Cup. We’re going to take it one step at a time, get track experience and work our way up.”
The next step for Earnhardt is to race at Barber Motorsports Park. Despite never having seen the facility in person, he said he has been practicing in recent months on the iRacing computerized simulation.
“I know on iRacing it seems like a lot of fun,” Earnhardt said. “I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about Barber. Everybody says it’s a really nice facility and a lot of fun to drive on. I’m excited about getting there and running on it for real. I’m ready to go racing.”
Spoken like a true Earnhardt.
The Porsche 250 will take place Saturday, March 31st at Barber Motorsports Park as one of six races throughout the three-?day Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama weekend. Tickets start at $15 and kids 12 and under are admitted free with a ticketed adult. For more
information and to purchase tickets, visit www.barbermotorsports.com.