MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 8, 2017) – As Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s final racing season in the top-flight NASCAR Cup Series creeps toward November and the Homestead-Miami Speedway finale, it is only natural that some of this focus would turn toward where—and when—it all began.

The discovery of two photo albums, full of images of him as a young driver, helps facilitate that journey, and thanks to Instagram, you can share it with him.

Page through the embedded photos and take that journey with him, from scared-stiff Street Stock Savant to hot-shot Late Model driver. You’ll know then where the 25-year odyssey that began in 1992 started, how it progressed and what it looked like, if not live at least in living color.

The journey starts below.

 

Here I am getting ready for my first ever street stock race in 92-93. Hard to tell but I was scared to death.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:48pm PDT

 

A throwback of brother Kerry and me at Concord Speedway for our first race in our streetstock in 1992. We had one car and two drivers. So we alternated driving the car every week. Kerry drove in its first race. We broke the cam into 3 pieces.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 8:23am PDT

 

Kerry and I got tired of sharing a car. So I built this street stock mid season in 92-93. Another driver remarked that it looked too nice. Same driver wrecked me the first lap and split the stock fuel cell in half. No fire, lucky.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:51pm PDT

 

I'll see if I can find some more old photos to post another day. Found these two books and felt like sharing.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 1:12pm PDT

 

Late Model days in the 90s. JW = Jerry Williams who had spun me out of the lead the weekend before. Silly.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:29pm PDT

 

Our first late model stock in 93. Dirt floor shop. Borrowed money from the bank on Friday, raced Saturday, and paid it back on Monday.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:56pm PDT

 

Ran a race up at Shady Bowl in this car in 97. Top 5. They didn't use mirrors. I found that strange and sorta fun I suppose.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:46pm PDT

 

Racing @martinsville_speedway in the mid 90s. Car wasn't real fast. Driver was pretty green too.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:32pm PDT

 

This was an old big spring car that Ron Hornaday helped me convert to a coil over. Dad wasn't too pleased because he wanted us using traditional suspension chassis. But we ran 15 races with it. 1 win, 14 top 3s.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:26pm PDT

 

NASCAR hall of fame member Ron Hornaday went testing with me once in the 90s to try and help me dial in a new car. He helped me quite a bit when he was a driver at DEI.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:14pm PDT

 

We raced at North Wilkesboro once and only once back in 1993. Bent the front clip. My dad introduced me to a new young driver that weekend. @jeffgordonweb Dad said he was probably gonna be pretty good.

A post shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@dalejr) on Jun 7, 2017 at 8:54am PDT