For a teenage boy from rural North Carolina with a heavy foot and an empty wallet, the decision on how to support his family should have been simple for Kerry Earnhardt.

Let’s go racing, right?

Earnhardt, the oldest son of stock-car racing legend Dale Earnhardt Sr., could have started driving at the finest local tracks in the Southeast in the best equipment money could buy.

Kerry Earnhardt, however, had a different plan when he dropped out of high school to get married and have the first of two sons.

"I got a job in a textile mill and later on I worked at my dad’s automobile dealership," he said. "I loved racing, but I didn’t want to go traveling around to tracks and leaving my family alone for days and nights at a time. That stuff can be hard on a family.

"I wanted to pay the bills and get established. I also wanted to see my kids grow up. I didn’t want to miss anything. My family never wanted for anything, either."

It wasn’t until he turned 22 in 1992 that Earnhardt, the halfbrother of NASCAR Nextel Cup star Dale Earnhardt Jr., started his racing career in earnest. It was a humble beginning in the street-stock division at Concord (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

The late start helped turn Earnhardt, 36, into something of a journeyman. He is 21 st in the points standings after six races, with a high finish of 18 th. On Saturday, he will compete in the Mansfield 250 Craftsman Truck Series race at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway.

Earnhardt can relate to the fans in the stands.

"I started my racing late, but I think it made me a better person," he said. "I lived week by week at times. I had to work side jobs cutting grass and fixing my neighbor’s car just to pay the rent.

"I think that has made me respect people more. I can appreciate these fans that pay so much for tickets. A lot of them save every single day of the year so they can go racing. For some, a race like this is a trip of a lifetime because of the experience."

True to his family, he and his second wife saw 18-year-old Bobby graduate from high school April 29, the day after a race at Gateway International in Madison, Ill.

"I’ve seen baseball games, class plays and a lot of my kids’ firsts," Earnhardt said. "I wouldn’t trade that for anything. I enjoy being me. I don’t care that I’m not famous. I don’t put on shows. I’m not jealous of Dale. He has earned everything he has got. People have no idea how hard he worked to get where he’s at."

While Dale Jr. has become a multimillionaire and won the Daytona 500, Kerry has gone from ride to ride in series after series. He’d be considered a pretty fair driver if his name wasn’t Earnhardt. He won the Automobile Racing Club of America title in 2001 and has a number of top-10 finishes in the Busch series, including a second at Kansas in 2002.

What most fans have seen, though, is Earnhardt struggle in Nextel Cup. His best finish was 17 th last year at Talladega.

That’s why team manager David Pepper used a unique pitch to sell Earnhardt to truck owner Duke Thorson of Sandusky.

"I told Duke, ‘I’ve got a driver here who has won four ARCA races, has about 20 top-10 finishes in Busch and has won four poles,’ " Pepper said. "Duke couldn’t stand the suspense and said, ‘Just who is this guy?’ I said it was Kerry Earnhardt. I said that he shouldn’t be looked at as Dale Earnhardt’s son, but our new driver."

Pepper said expectations of Earnhardt are similar to drivers of the past.

"Donnie Allison was a really good driver, but he always was compared to his brother, Bobby Allison, a great driver," he said. "Then there was Clifford Allison, who was coming into his own until he was killed in that crash, having to follow his brother Davey. Now, that’s tough.

"Kerry is his own man, and we wanted him to grow with our young team. He needed someplace to call home so he can reach his potential. I think Kerry is a good fit. We just have to show patience with him, and Kerry has to be patient."

The biggest rap on Earnhardt is that he’s a crasher. That has relegated him to many onerace deals.

"What Kerry has to do is make the equipment finish the race," crew chief Lance Hooper said. "Kerry can’t drive 110 percent the first 10 laps of the race. His problem is that he’s not afraid to push the envelope. He has a good feel for what the truck needs. He just needs a little confidence."

Earnhardt’s new philosophy is the team can’t get better if Hooper and Pepper have to repair trucks rather than finetune them.

"I don’t have to worry about going week to week like in the past," he said. "I just can’t have this team buying new trucks all the time. I can’t overdrive it."

 

mznidar@dispatch.com