Dale Jr. share the excitement of the infield with a child from the community. "Most of the people that spend time with me at the track have some sort of illness that prevents them from living a full quality of life, so the fact that they want to be with me at a race is really humbling," says Dale Jr.
But because his interests and involvement extends beyond racing to include a seven-year old driver foundation, one in which he and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, are personally invested, his “My Time” rarely materializes. For example, when Mooresville’s Shepherd Elementary School called The Dale Jr. Foundation (TDJF) with a personal invitation to honor the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Diet Mt. Dew Chevrolet with an assembly in his honor,
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Dale Jr. happily modified his “My Time” to accommodate the kids. “To have 500 students and teachers excited about my visit and to thank me for what we have done reminds me of what the foundation is doing and how we are helping,” Dale Jr. explains. “I can put myself in their shoes from my elementary days and think how encouraging it was to have someone that I thought was larger than life at my school doing something. I probably didn’t even know why they were there, but it was still super cool.”
Dale Jr. didn’t arrive at Shepherd empty handed. To continue his foundation’s legacy of support that began several years ago with a simple donation of new football helmets and safety gear (in response to a parent’s personal appeal), then continued with gifts of iPads, smart boards and an entire technology center (aptly named the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Computer Lab), Dale Jr. brought along a $35,000 check earmarked for continued investment in technology. The gifts he received in return from students, teachers