Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Probably not coincidentally, Wrangler was the initial sponsor of his father's #3 Chevrolet from 1980 until 1987. Slavery and Louisiana. He was also featured in a commercial for Wrangler jeans that used the aforementioned song as its background music. There is now a Six Flags in New Orleans East. has appeared in print advertisements for Drakkar Noir Cologne, one of the sponsors of his race car, and in the video for Sheryl Crow's song "Steve McQueen", which pays tribute to the late film star famous for his car chase scenes. For almost 20 years there was only one amusement park in Louisiana, called Hamel's Amusement Park near Bossier City. Dale Jr. They still maintain contacts with the Canary Islands, and have an annual "Caldo" festival named for a native dish.

He has expressed interest in pursuing an acting career. Many of their descendants remained insulated from the city, and continued to speak an archaic version of Spanish well into the 20th Century. Dale Jr.'s looks have helped his media presence. Bernard Parish, in the river passes east of the city, along an old mouth of the Mississippi River which they named Terre Aux Bouefs (literally "Land of the Cows" for the cattle living there). Fans have alleged that the change was approved, in the hopes of saving NAPA Auto Parts as a team sponsor. They settled in what is modern-day St. Many of Earnhardt's fans have criticized the leadership at DEI, especially Teresa Earnhardt for her approval of the crew change. There were intended to help guard the eastern approaches to New Orleans from invasion by the British.

Teammate Michael Waltrip took the pole position for the Pocono 500, further bolstering the argument that Waltrip may have gotten the better end of the crew change. The Islenos are dirrect descendants of Canary Islanders forced to migrate by the Spanish King beginning in the mid-1770s. A recovery seems unlikely, considering that Johnson and second place Greg Biffle have dominated most of the first 13 races of the season. There is also a distinct Spanish-descended group in Louisiana. Earnhardt must be within 400 points of the leader by the 26th race to qualify for the Chase for the Championship. Two separate historically Francophone communities exist in Louisiana. is 15th in the points standings, 414 behind leader Jimmie Johnson. For schools see List of school districts in Louisiana.

As of June 11, 2005, Earnhardt Jr. Ranked by per capita income. finished fifteenth in the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, suggesting that DEI may have lost its advantage at the restrictor plate tracks to rival Hendrick Motorsports. See also: List of famous people from Louisiana; List of Louisiana musicians; Music of Louisiana. At one point he was as far back as 29th. Subsequently, Earnhardt Jr. Its industrial outputs include chemical products, petroleum and coal products, food processing, transportation equipment, paper products, and tourism. On February 20 2005, Dale fell short of winning back-to-back Daytona 500 races, placing third after struggling with an ill-handling car for much of the race. The state's principal agricultural outputs include seafood, cotton, soybeans, cattle, sugarcane, poultry and eggs, dairy products, and rice.

Rondeau served as Earnhardt's crew chief until the Coca Cola 600 weekend when he was replaced with DEI chief engineer Steve Hmiel. Its Per Capita Personal Income was $26,312, 43^rd in the nation. Peter Rondeau, a Chance 2 employee who also helped Earnhardt win the Busch Series race at Bristol in August, became the crew chief for Earnhardt in 2005. The total gross state product in 2003 for Louisiana was $140 billion. became the crew chief for the DEI #15 driven by Michael Waltrip for the 2005 season. Highway 90. would be promoted to the team manager position for the DEI corporation, while Tony Eury, Jr. Also, Interstate 49 is slated to be expanded north into Arkansas and east along Interstate 10 to New Orleans, replacing part of U.S.

At the close of the 2004 season it was revealed that Tony Eury, Sr. There are proposed plans to extend Interstate 69 to the Texas/Mexico border, which will go through north-eastern Louisiana. Truex went on a charge late in the 2004 Busch Series season, and clinched the championship at Darlington, with a strong finish, making Earnhardt the winner of both a driver's championship (1998 and 1999) and an owner's championship (2004). State and Federal government efforts to halt or reverse this phenomenon are under way; others are being sought. Earnhardt as an owner was more proficient. Owing to the extensive flood control measures along the Mississippi river and to natural subsidence, Louisiana is now suffering the loss of coastal land area. That incident, combined with two consecutive DNF's in the playoffs, eventually dropped him out of the running, and finished fifth in the 2004 Nextel Cup playoff. Near the coast, there are many salt domes, where salt is mined and oil is often found.

However, he was penalized 25 points for use of an obscenity during the television broadcast, in violation of a NASCAR rule prohibiting participants from using obscene language. It was originally covered by an arm of the sea, and has been built up by the silt carried down the valley by the great river. He was able to qualify third for the NASCAR ten-race playoff, and won his fifth Nextel Cup win of the season (a career high) was also his fifth win at Talladega (another record). A large part of Louisiana is the creation and product of the Mississippi River. In the fall, Junior became the first driver to sweep the weekend meet at Bristol by winning both the Busch race and Cup race in the same weekend. The underlying strata of the state are of Cretaceous age and are covered by alluvial deposits of Tertiary and post-Tertiary origin. The burns did not affect Junior in the long run. The state also has 1,060 square miles of land-locked bays, 1,700 square miles of inland lakes, and a river surface of over 500 square miles.

and his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt) and his DEI team mate (John Andretti) in the middle of the races. Besides the navigable rivers already named (some of which are called bayous), there are the Sabine, forming the western boundary, and the Pearl, the eastern boundary, the Calcasieu, the Mermentau, the Vermilion, the Teche, the Atchafalaya, the Boeuf, the Lafourche, the Courtableau, the D'Arbonne, the Macon, the Tensas, the Amite, the Tchefuncta, the Tickfaw, the Matalbany, and a number of other streams of lesser note, constituting a natural system of navigable waterways, aggregating over 4,000 miles in length, which is unequalled in the United States and probably in the world. The burns prevented him from finishing two races where he was replaced by Martin Truex, Jr. (driver for Chance 2 Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The elevations above sea-level range from 10 feet at the coast and swamp lands to 50 and 60 feet at the prairie and alluvial lands. In the uplands and hills the elevations rise to Mount Driskoll, the highest point in the state at only 535 feet above sea level, located in northwest Louisiana. He suffered second and third degree burns on his neck, chin, and legs. The uplands and contiguous hill lands have an area of more than 25,000 square miles, and they consist of prairie and woodlands. The car burst into flames with Junior still inside. With the maintenances of strong levees these alluvial lands would enjoy perpetual immunity from inundation.

crashed the Corvette he was testing for an American LeMans Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. These floods, however, do not occur annually, and they may be said to be exceptional. won the Daytona 500, 6 years to the day after his father won his only title in the "Super Bowl Of Motorsports." In July, during on off-weekend from NASCAR, Dale Jr. These alluvial lands are never inundated save when breaks occur in the levees by which they are protected against the floods of the Mississippi and its tributaries. In 2004, Dale Earnhardt Jr. The lands along other streams present very similar features. Still, Junior rallied to score two more wins at Talladega, a pair of Bud Pole Awards and an 11th-place finish in the final standings. The Mississippi flows upon a ridge formed by its own deposits, from which the lands incline toward the low swamps beyond at an average fall of six feet per mile.

finished no better than 30th. The breadth of the alluvial region along the Mississippi is from 10 to 60 miles, and along the other streams it averages about 10 miles. In the three races following Fontana, Earnhardt Jr. The surface of the state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands, and the alluvial and coast and swamp regions. The alluvial regions, including the low swamps and coast lands, cover an area of about 20,000 square miles; they lie principally along the Mississippi River, which traverses the state from north to south for a distance of about 600 miles and ultimately emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, the Red River, the Ouachita River and its branches, and other minor streams. He struggled after enduring a concussion at Fontana in April -- an injury he did not admit to until mid-September. See: List of Louisiana parishes. In 2002, Junior had a roller-coaster season. See: List of Louisiana Governors, Napoleon Bonaparte.

The season of emotion produced nine top-fives and 15 top-10 finishes, as well as two Bud Poles. All other states use the First Past the Post electoral system to elect Senators, Representatives, and statewide officials. That Talladega victory earned Junior a Winston No Bull 5 $1 million bonus. Therefore it is common for a Democrat to be in a runoff with a fellow Democrat or a Republican to be in a runoff with a fellow Republican. The second victory came at Dover, Delaware, in the first race after 9/11 and the third was in the EA Sports 500 at Talladega--the site of his father's final victory. This runoff does not take into account party identification. The first win came when the series returned to Daytona, the same track where Junior's father had died a few months earlier, for the Pepsi 400. If no candidate has more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the highest vote total compete in a runoff election approximately one month later.

He didn't stay down for long, though. Junior scored three emotional victories and came back to finish eighth in points. All candidates run in an open primary on Election Day, in which multiple candidates from the same party may be on the ballot. Just as his father would have done, Junior raced at Rockingham the following weekend, but crashed on the first lap and finished in 43rd-place. states in using a runoff in state, local, and congressional elections. As Junior finished second, his father died on impact with the wall. Louisiana is unique among U.S. The first major event of the season occurred in the final corner of the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500--Junior's father crashed. Property, contractual, and family law are still mostly based on traditional Roman legal thinking and have little in common with English law.

came into the season assuming that the biggest obstacle he would face would be a sophomore slump, instead the year proved to be one of the most tumultuous and memorable seasons the young driver has experienced. While most of the differences are now found in verbiage, it is important to note that the "Civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in all aspects of Louisiana law. In 2001 Earnhardt Jr. Great differences still exist between Louisiana Civil Law and the Common Law found in her 49 sister states. Lee, Richard and Maurice Petty had previously accomplished the feat. Louisiana was never governed by the Napoleonic Code. That occasion was only the second time that a father had raced against two sons. It is important to note that the Louisiana Civil Code and the French Civil Code, often referred to as the Napoleonic Code, came into existence at roughly the same time.

Junior did have a part in recreating one Winston Cup milestone in 2000 when he competed with his father and brother Kerry in the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Technically, it is known as "Civil Law," or the "Civilian System." It is often incorrectly referred to as the "Code Napoleon" or The Napoleonic Code. Kenseth ultimately scored a 42-point victory in the rookie race. Louisiana is the only state whose legal system is based on Roman, Spanish, and French civil law as opposed to English common law. It didn't pan out that way, as frequent challenger Matt Kenseth outran Junior in the Daytona 500, and never let up in his run to the title. Louisiana has seven U.S. Congressmen, five of which are Republicans, two of which are Democrats. Before his Winston Cup rookie season in 2000, many thought Earnhardt Jr. was the front-runner for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award. senators are Mary Landrieu (Democrat) and David Vitter (Republican).

With his father's guidance and his own experience on the short tracks throughout the Carolinas, he was ready to take a bold step forward. Its governor is Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (Democrat) and its two U.S. won consecutive NASCAR Busch Series Championships in 1998 & 1999. The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge. Earnhardt Jr. throughout the rest of the war. There, he developed an in-depth knowledge of chassis setup and car preparation, while racing against Kerry and their sister Kelley. New Orleans was captured by Federal troops on April 25, 1862. As significant portions of the population had Union sympathies, the Federal government took the unusual step of recognizing the areas of Louisiana under Federal control as a state within the Union with elected representatives who were sent to the congress in Washington, D.C.

Within two seasons, the young Earnhardt had honed his driving abilities to the point of joining the Late Model Stock Car division. In the American Civil War Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861. His first race car was a 1978 Monte Carlo that he co-owned with older brother Kerry. Donaldsonville, Opelousas, and Shreveport have also briefly served as the seat of governments of Louisiana. began his professional driving career at the age of 17, competing in the Street Stock division at Concord (N.C.) Motorsport Park. In 1849 the capital moved from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Earnhardt Jr. There are still remnants of its former status as a possession of France, including: the use of a civil law legal system, based on the Louisiana Civil Code, which is similar to (and often confused with) the Napoleonic Code (like France, and unlike the rest of the United States, which uses a common law legal system derived from England), the term "parishes" being used to describe the state's sub-divisions as opposed to "counties", etc.

He currently drives the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The western boundary of Louisiana with Spanish Texas remained in dispute until the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, with the Sabine Free State serving as a neutral buffer zone as well as a haven for criminals. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974 in Kannapolis, North Carolina) is the son of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. The Florida Parishes were annexed from Spanish West Florida by proclamation of President James Madison in 1810. NASCAR. In 1803 the United States purchased the French province of Louisiana (see Louisiana Purchase) and divided it into two territories: the Orleans Territory (which became the state of Louisiana in 1812) and the District of Louisiana (which consisted of all the land not included in Orleans Territory). List of famous NASCAR drivers. In 1800 France's Napoleon Bonaparte re-acquired Louisiana from Spain in the Treaty of San Ildefonso, although this was kept secret for some two years.

During the period of Spanish rule, several thousand French-speaking refugees from the region of Acadia made their way to Louisiana following British expulsion; settling largely in the southwestern bayous, they became known as the Cajuns. The rest of Louisiana became a colony of Spain by the Treaty of Fountainebleau of 1762. Most of the territory to the east of the Mississippi was lost to Great Britain in the French and Indian War, except for the area around New Orleans and the parishes around Lake Pontchartrain. Initially Mobile, Alabama and Biloxi, Mississippi functioned as the capital of the colony; from 1722 on New Orleans fulfilled that role.

See also: French colonization of the Americas. Most of the settlement concentrated along the banks of the Mississippi and its major tributaries, with trading outposts and mission settlements in the Illinois Country, as far north as Peoria, Illinois and a number of settlements in the area around near present-day Saint Louis, Missouri. The French colony of Louisiana originally claimed a great region of land on both sides of the Mississippi River and north to Canada. The first permanent settlement was founded by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1699.

Louisiana was named by the French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle in honour of Louis XIV in 1682. Thereafter the region was long neglected by the Spanish authorities, and the next explorers were French. Some 13 years later Hernando de Soto's expedition crossed through the region. The first European explorers to visit what is now Louisiana was a Spanish expedition in 1528 led by Panfilo de Narváez which located the mouth of the Mississippi River.

What follows is a partial list, using current parish boundaries as rough approximations of locations.^{[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana#endnote_sturdevent-67)}. The lasting mark of the Native Americans can be seen even today in the names used in Louisiana, such as Atchafalaya, Natchitouches (now spelled Natchitoches), Caddo, Houma, Tangipahoa, and Avoyel (Avoyelles Parish). Louisiana was long inhabited by Native American tribes before the arrival of Europeans. Today, English is by far the main language of everyday life, but traces of French survive in local dialects.

While the state has no declared "official language", its law recognizes both English and French. Among the states, Louisiana has a unique culture, owing to its French colonial heritage. The state is bordered to the west by the state of Texas, to the north by Arkansas, to the east by the state of Mississippi, and to the south by the Gulf of Mexico. postal abbreviation LA.

It uses the U.S. Louisiana (pronounced /luːˌiːzɪˈænə/ or /ˌluːzɪˈænə/) (French: Louisiane, pronounced /lwizjan/) is a Southern state of the United States of America. ^ Sturdevent, William C. (1967): Early Indian Tribes, Cultures, and Linguistic Stocks (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/early_indian_east.jpg), Smithsonian Institution Map (Eastern United States). Many of the freed slaves in Louisiana in turn purchased their own slaves, which led to the state having one of the largest numbers of slave owning blacks in America, if not the largest.

While one would think that this would lead to a dramatic reduction in the amount of slavery in the state, this is not the case. It did, however, have one of the largest free black populations in the United States. Louisiana was a slave state. Most Acadians declined and emigrated from Canada, most of them fleeing to the South Western portion of Louisiana, centered in the region around Lafayette.

When the British won the French and Indian War, the British forced all of the citizens to take a pledge of allegiance. The ancestors of the Cajuns are the Acadians, a French-descended people of what are now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada. The ancestors of Creoles generally came to Louisiana directly from France or from the French colonies in the Caribbean and settled in New Orleans or in South Eastern Louisiana. State songs: You Are My Sunshine, Every Man a King, and Give Me Louisiana.

State food: Gumbo. State amphibian: Green Tree Frog. State crustacean : Crawfish. State insect: Honeybee.

State reptile : American Alligator. State wildflower : Louisiana Iris. State mammal : Louisiana Black Bear. State tree : Bald Cypress.

State fossil : Petrified palmwood. State flower : Magnolia. State bird : Eastern Brown Pelican. State dog : Catahoula Leopard Dog.

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs - CHL. Louisiana IceGators - ECHL. New Orleans Brass (1997 - 2003) - ECHL. Minor League Hockey