Ht: 6-0 Wt: 175

Born On: October 10, 1974 In: Kannapolis, NC

 

Childhood Heroes: “My dad. He was ‘The Intimidator.’”

 

Hobbies/Interests: “Boxing, chillin’ and working on the late model stock car with the guys.”

 

Nicknames: “A lot of ‘em. Little E, Junior, Junebug, whatever you wanna call me.”

 

Favorite Movies: “Cast Away, Almost Famous.”

 

Musical Tastes: “I like almost everything. Elvis, 3 Doors Down, Korn, Pink Floyd, Ludacris, Fleetwood Mac.”

 

Favorite TV Shows: “Seinfeld, History Channel.”

 

Favorite Meal: “Grilled chicken with rice on the George Foreman grill.”

 

Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Probably Cheerios or Frosted Flakes.”

 

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Icees or Popsicles – do those count as ice cream?”

 

Childhood Dream(s): “I never was sure if I’d be a race driver, but I knew I could change oil as fast as anyone [smiles].”

 

First Car: “Red 1978 Chevy Monte Carlo. My brother Kerry and I sold a go-kart and bought it to race as a street stock at Concord Speedway. We eventually sold it to Hank Parker Jr.”

 

First Job: “Working in the service department at Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet.”

 

Pre-Race Feeling: “Depends on my mood. If I want to get really aggressive and pumped up, I listen to Korn. If I want to mellow out, it may be something like Otis Redding. Usually, once I leave the driver’s meeting, I’m not in any mood to talk to people or mess around with anything. That’s my time. A lot of people don’t understand that.”

 

Early Racing Memory: “I was about 12, and I was still kind of a little guy. I fell out of a go-kart so much, my daddy made me stop. I was foot-to-the-floor, haul-ass, until I’d crash. And those didn’t have seatbelts.”

 

Funny Racing Memory: “It’s all fun. It was awesome and fun racing against my dad for the first time at Motegi, Japan (2000). I beat him, and he threw his shoe at me. Plus, my crew had gone down and borrowed all of his good tires, so he didn’t like that too much [smiles].”

 

Greatest Sports Moment: “Winning the Daytona 500 (in 2004). It’s the biggest win of my career. Best day of my life.”

 

Most Painful Moment: “Getting burned in a big fiery sports-car crash in Sonoma in 2004. I still have pretty big scars on my neck and legs from that crash.”

 

Favorite Vacation Spot: “Hawaii or Jamaica.”

 

Last Halloween Costume: “Bill Clinton, and all my buddies were my secret service men. We went to a big college party, and I wore a suit and a Bill Clinton mask. It was cool.”

 

Closest Racing Friend(s): “Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Hank Parker Jr, Elliott Sadler.”

 

Funniest Racer(s): “Bobby Labonte – because no one really knows he’s really funny. He’s just a damn cool guy.”

 

Favorite Racetrack(s): “Daytona. It’s the most prominent track we go to, and it’s a lot of fun to race on. But it also has a great city life. It’s right there on the beach. It has great restaurants, great clubs, great bars. Lot of fun.”

 

Embarrassing Racing Memory: “Definitely Martinsville my rookie year. I hit everything but the pace car… wrecked like three or four times. The final crash bent the steering wheel six inches in my hands. I was pretty proud of that [smiles].”

 

Toughest Competitors: “Rusty Wallace. No matter when or where, he always raced me as hard as anyone. I know it’s because we had competing sponsors, but the man never cut me a break.”

 

People Qualities Most Admired: “Honesty.”