Dale Earnhardt Jr. Discusses New TV Series, CTE and More in Exclusive Interview

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will likely always be identified as a driver, but NASCAR's renaissance man is making an impact at every level of the sport that is so deeply ingrained in him.

Though the 13-time winner of the Sprint Cup Most Popular Driver Award remains in pursuit of his first points title in NASCAR's top series, his involvement in other projects under the stock car racing umbrella continues to expand.

Junior's newest venture is in conjunction with CMT as the executive producer of a series entitled NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed, which debuts at 9 p.m. ET Sunday. The three-part show chronicles the development of NASCAR from its outlaw beginnings to the mainstream power it is today:

Taking on the role of executive producer was a new challenge for the 41-year-old superstar, but it is one he embraced in hopes of being part of similar projects moving forward.

"I'm really interested in being more involved in telling the history of the sport," Earnhardt told Bleacher Report. "We have such a unique history, and there's so many great stories and personalities. So, it's fun for me because I get to tell the story to someone who doesn't know it, but also I learned a lot throughout that process, and I'm always wanting to know more about where we came from."

There may be no active driver more qualified to speak on the subject, as Dale Jr. is the son of the legendary Dale Earnhardt and grandson of Ralph Earnhardt. Becoming a NASCAR historian of sorts could keep Earnhardt at the forefront of the sport long after his career reaches its conclusion, as could his status as an owner in the Xfinity Series.

Earnhardt's JR Motorsports has become one of the best teams in NASCAR's second series, and Chase Elliott took home the points championship in 2014.

On April 23 at Richmond International Raceway, Junior won his first Xfinity Series race since 2010, and it marked the first time he took a checkered flag in one of his own cars.

Following that victory, Earnhardt said he was proud of what his team has become:

It hasn't taken long for JR Motorsports to develop into a power, and Earnhardt intends to keep it going for many years to come: "That would be my plan. We'll just have to—dollars and cents. Trying to make it work on the books, trying to make it worthwhile to a partner and sponsor to be involved—but if the money's there, yeah, I'd love to keep going to the race track and trying to win races."

Despite Earnhardt's success as an owner in the Xfinity Series, he said his aspirations in that capacity don't extend to the Sprint Cup level. His father headed Dale Earnhardt, Inc. from 1984 until his death in 2001.

"I really don't [see myself becoming a Cup owner] to be honest with you," he said. "We've had a lot of success in the Xfinity Series, and we like what we have there. We would have to build a bigger shop. We would have to hire a lot more people. We would have to build all new equipment. The startup costs would be tremendous. A sponsorship for the Cup Series is around $20 million to $40 million per car.

"In the Xfinity Series, we can run the season on $6 million to $7 million a year. Those kind of deals are a little easier to obtain, and those relationships that we have, that we've built the last several years, align with that type of a budget, and we understand what we need to do to make that work. So I kind of enjoy where we are."

Earnhardt is in the midst of his ninth season with Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series, and he received a bump in seniority with the retirement of Jeff Gordon in 2015—only Jimmie Johnson has been with Hendrick longer.

While Earnhardt doesn't mind offering his opinions when asked for them, he hasn't attempted to assert himself as Gordon's replacement in terms of being the voice of the garage area: "I'm never really comfortable with going out and seeking that type of responsibility. It's humbling and feels good when I'm handed that responsibility. ... I don't really step up and say, 'All right, now, this is how we're gonna do it now that Jeff's gone.'"

One subject the Kannapolis, North Carolina, native has taken the lead on, though, is the ever-growing conversation on concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

CTE has been found in the brains of many athletes posthumously, and though the NFL and football are most closely linked to the disease, Earnhardt is hoping to raise awareness of it in NASCAR and society in general.

He announced plans to donate his brain to science in March, becoming the first high-profile NASCAR driver to do so.

Junior said he has had "a couple" of concussions over the course of his career, including one in 2012 that cost him two races. He is among the most popular athletes in the world, and he is hopeful his choice will inspire others to do the same, including non-athletes.

"I think that the Brain Bank in Boston needs more brains—and not just football players, not just athletes. The everyman," he said. "Everyone who wants to donate can donate. They need not only these brains of athletes, they need to be able to test what might be conceived as a normal brain. I was just hoping to influence people to look at this as an option if they're a donor in the first place, if this is something they might find interest in to help."

The two-time Daytona 500 winner is juggling several different interests, but thriving as a driver remains at the top of his list.

Earnhardt is coming off a last-place showing at the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, and he has yet to win a race to lock himself into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He is, however, nestled firmly in the top 16—in eighth place with five top-10 finishes and four top-five results in 10 races.

"I like where we're at," he said. "I think our cars are pretty fast, and we've been racing pretty well. I think that we just gotta keep going to the race track and try to learn. As you go to the track and work on your car and try different setups, you're continuously learning things and helping yourself get faster, and the competition's always learning to get better too.

"Greg [Ives], my crew chief, is doing a great job, and I'm just excited about what's around the corner. We got a lot of tracks coming up that we enjoy racing at, and this package that we have this year, this 2016 low-downforce package, has been a blast for me. Everywhere we go—like we're going to Kansas this weekend—it's the first time we've taken it there, so I'm excited to see how it drives and what the racing's gonna be like."

In 16 full Sprint Cup seasons, Earnhardt has finished in the top 12 in points 11 times, including a career-best third place in 2003.

The Chase system hasn't always been kind to Junior, though. He finished 12th in the standings last season and would have qualified for the final eight had he won at Talladega in late October. But he settled for second place and was left on the outside looking in.

"Last year, we really did a good job in the Chase," Earnhardt said. "We came close to making it into the last round, and that's the best account of ourselves we've made in the Chase ever. So, I think that we're right where we need to be as a team to really contend and be in that final four at Homestead."

Though there are still 16 races on the schedule before the Chase kicks off, the 26-time Sprint Cup race winner is a sure bet to be among the 16 remaining contenders when the playoff begins at Chicagoland Speedway in September.

Kyle Busch won the championship last year despite missing the first 11 races with a broken leg and foot, which suggests it is almost never too late for a driver to hit his stride—especially one with talent and quality equipment.

Earnhardt has and always will have one of the most significant and authoritative names in the sport, but there's one thing that could better his standing: a championship.

Winning a title would conceivably open more doors in terms of outside projects like NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed. It would give Earnhardt more pull and prestige as an owner. It would likely even make him more influential in terms of spreading awareness about head injuries and the importance of treating them properly.

Junior has taken on myriad responsibilities, but he's a driver first and foremost. There's no denying his passion for winning on the track, and if he manages to score the biggest achievement of his racing life in 2016, then more victories will surely roll in off of it as well.

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