Quotes from Dale Earnhardt Jr.

I was way behind in my maturity. I was a 30-year-old acting like a 23-year-old. So when I was 21, I was probably acting like a 15-year-old.

I get asked one question a lot: 'What celebrity encounter would render you starstruck?' The answer is simple - anyone who's ever strapped on a Redskins helmet, much less coached them to three Super Bowls.

I know a lot of Cup Series champions, and they each have a very different personality. They all go about handling adversity, their challenges, and even confrontation a little differently.

There's broadcasters that make me enjoy what I'm seeing because of their energy and how they explain what's happening and paint that picture.

I've done everything I ever thought I would do. I've done more than I thought I was capable of doing.

I would give up barbecuing for a championship.

I've always wanted to win a championship so badly.

People get surprised when they see you out buying a DVD at Best Buy like somebody else should be doing it for you or something! They're like, 'What are you doing your grocery shopping for?' Well, 'cause I'm starving!

I never thought I would ever win a Daytona 500. I never thought we would sweep Bristol. I just never thought any of that stuff was going to happen or be possible.

I keep sour grapes in the fridge all the time. And I eat those all day long, all week long, all month. All the time.

I can cook anything. Anything. I'm good.

I enjoy learning how to cook because I like to eat. Eating is good. Eating is fun.

I'm a big fan of Myron Mixon. I've read a couple of his books, and I've learned the little bit that I know about barbecue from those books.

That's one thing that frustrates me is to hear people today say I don't have passion; my heart's not in it. Man, what the hell? You can't go to 38 races in 42 weeks with your heart out of it.

Death is a weird thing.

I didn't think I was ever going to be a Cup driver. When I was a kid, before I started racing in the Xfinity Series, I thought that I was never going to get a chance, and then, if I did, I wasn't going to run well enough to maintain that opportunity and keep progressing.

I like 'Man v. Food,' 'Diners Drive-ins and Dives.' 'Restaurant Impossible' is pretty good, too.

The Dodge Charger in the late '70s at Daytona, that looked like an awesome car.

My role models weren't holding steering wheels and mashing gears on Sunday. They wore burgundy and gold with names like Art Monk and Darrell Green.

I love running good because it meets expectations, whether it's the fans' or my own. And I know that they come to be entertained: they pull for a particular driver to be entertained by that driver's success and that driver's personality, and they relate to that individual.

I hate disappointing people and letting people down.

I've been able to make a lot of money and live a lifestyle that I never dreamed of. And I've been able to provide for my family.

I'm a big fan of music. I need to be listening to music most of the time during the day.

For the longest time, I was just real nervous about privacy and people prying into my personal business.