Youngest Earnhardt Shines for NASCAR in Goodwood Festival of Speed

Most NASCAR fans remember the first time they saw Dale Earnhardt's youngest daughter Taylor Nicole.

With her mother, Teresa, cradling and hugging her while watching the 1990 Daytona 500 from a TV unit in the family motorcoach, it was quite the scene to see Dale's baby girl comprehending each moment of that classic race.

She would smile when her father's famous No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet Lumina would lead each circuit of the prestigious race.

Heartache would strike for the Earnhardt clan, when Dale's Chevrolet had a cut tire from a piece of debris toward the transition of the backstretch and turn three of the Daytona International Speedway.

Instead of being embraced and in the arms of her proud father, Taylor was held by her mother, crying and bawling over the defeat.

Years would go by and Taylor would make her rounds to the track with her famous parents and siblings.

We watched Dale's youngest child grow up right in front of our eyes. She would be right there in Victory Lane at various moments during the 1990s.

Perhaps most famously, she was present in the winner's circle in the 1998 edition of "The Great American Race."

There, she was taking in the celebration with a jubilant father who exorcised the demons of Daytona—much like a true racer.

Nearly eleven years later, that little girl that motorsports and NASCAR fans watched from her days as a toddler to teenager has now become the latest of the Earnhardt clan to take the wheel of a stock car.

No, she's not behind the wheel of an active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ride, or riding up the ladder of stock car racing.

The youngest Earnhardt participated in the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England, driving her late father's No. 3 Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo based off its appearance in the 2000 racing season.

Earnhardt, along with Cup legend Rusty Wallace, 1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Mike Skinner, and Hendrick Motorsports prospect Landon Cassill, have taken part in this summer tradition in the United Kingdom.

Wallace drove his famous No. 2 Miller Lite car, while Skinner would pilot a Red Bull Toyota Camry Car of Tomorrow vehicle with a burnout show for the English fans.

However, it was Earnhardt who stole the show, driving that Chevrolet around one of England's finest courses in the West Sussex area.

This particular vehicle was not just a newly built race car resembling one of her father's famous machines—actually, it was the car that the late Dale Sr. would drive to his final career victory at Talladega Superspeedway on October 15, 2000.

As you might expect, Earnhardt's experience driving the car that her father drove to his dramatic win in "The House That Dale Built" was incredible.

"It was a great experience driving my dad's race car today," she said in a ThatsRacin.com report. "There are so many great race cars and race drivers here and I was honored to be able to run with them."

Danny Lawrence, an engine builder with Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines, and Rich Burgess, shop manager for Jeff Burton's No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team, prepared their former colleague's car for the festival.

Impressed by their old boss' daughter behind the wheel, Lawrence said, "Taylor did a really good job... she learned pretty quickly and held her own out there."

He added, "I was told there were about 125,000 fans here today so it had to be a little intimidating. But, she knows a thing or two about intimidation, so it didn't seem to bother her any."

As the daughter of "The Man In Black" and "The Intimidator," Taylor Earnhardt may not pursue a career as a stock car driver.

But this much is certain: That famous Earnhardt glint and smile still lives on, even with Dale's youngest one, who's now 20 years old.