When the 2016 NASCAR season begins, it will mark the 17th full-time season for driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It's hard to believe the Kannapolis, N.C. native has been in the sport that long. As a fresh-faced 21-year-old who popped up in the Busch Series for one race in 1996 (he finished seventh), you knew he was a star on the rise. Not just because he was the son of NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt but because he had talent.
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Before you knew it, he was winning Busch Series titles and ascending to the Sprint Cup level.