He won a pole and recorded 8 top 5s and 40 top 10s as well as 1994 Rookie of the Year Honors at his local track, Hickory Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series. Earnhardt's first NASCAR start came in the Busch Series at Myrtle Beach in 1998. After select Busch races in 1998 and 1999. Earnhardt raced in the Automobile Racing Club of America's ARCA Racing Series in 2000 and 2001 for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI), using DEI Winston Cup Series equipment formerly used by Steve Park. During this stint he won 4 of his 11 starts, with 7 top 5s and 8 top 10s.