Earnhardt Jr. in the junk car business

Earnhardt's beard makes him look like a hillbilly junkyard car collector

As a famous NASCAR driver, one would expect Dale Earnhardt Jr. to have a valuable car collection. But it’s a collection of crashed cars – and its newest addition – that has people talking.

Among the cars in the collection? The Earnhardt Ganassi Racing car that Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into a jet dryer during the Daytona 500 Feb. 27 at Daytona International Speedway.

Both Montoya and the jet dryer driver escaped injury as both Montoya’s car and the jet dryer caught fire. The ensuing fireball resulted in a delay of more than two hours during the race.

Now Montoya’s red Target-sponsored Chevy sits in the woods on Earnhardt Jr.’s 200-acre property in Mooresville, N.C., a gift from former Hendrick Motorsports engineer Chris Heroy, who worked on Earnhardt Jr.’s crew last year and is now Montoya’s crew chief at EGR.

“[Heroy] is a buddy of mine and he gave it to me," Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’ve got 50 or 60 cars out there. I didn’t buy any of them."

The Montoya car automatically became one of the most famous cars on Earnhardt Jr.’s property.

“That one ranks right up there," Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’ve got the [Nationwide] car that [Dennis] Setzer flipped when he was driving for [Brad] Keselowski at Talladega. It ranks right up there. It’s one of the top two or three.

“I don’t even know where they put it. I’ll have to go find it." Scenedaily.com