Glory days: Dale Earnhardt Jr. says 'I feel real lucky'

TALLADEGA, Ala. — The glory days for Dale Earnhardt Jr.? You're looking at them.

Sure, the 40-year-old Earnhardt had some great times on and off the track when he was younger. But he never had every facet of his life bring him such happiness until the last few years.

He's going to victory lane more often — five wins in the last two seasons, which is one more than the previous nine years combined. And he's smiling more often, too -- thanks to his longtime girlfriend, Amy Reimann, and close relationships with his sister and mother.

"Everything is in the right direction," he said. "Everybody is happy. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be, but I feel real lucky because that's the case. I know a lot of people aren't as fortunate.

"Hopefully, it just keeps getting better."

He added that last comment with a bit of a laugh, as if things were so good that he wondered how exactly they could improve.

Earnhardt looks at his life these days and thinks about how silly it is that he's so fortunate. He said in victory lane Sunday after winning the Geico 500 — his sixth win at Talladega Superspeedway — that he didn't feel like he deserved it all, but later clarified that was mainly referring to his racing.

"There's just not many second chances," he said.

It's hard to believe he's the same driver who finished 25th and 21st in the points standings in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

In some ways, he's not. Earnhardt couldn't get out of his own way back then. His confidence was low, his head always down, he had a feeling that he was lost.

The smile has been back for some time now.

That he was still able to keep a job in a top ride after those years, he said, was probably due to his last name. He was grateful to get an opportunity at a career revival.

"I feel like I owe my second chance to my dad, his legacy (of seven championships)," he said. "Because the way I ran from '09 through those years till 2011 or so, I feel I didn't deserve to be kept around or hung onto."

Racing is good for Earnhardt these days. But his personal life is even better.

Reimann has "been a big help in getting me out of my shell," he said. A once-shy man is now much more social.

The couple decided Reimann would stay home in North Carolina instead of traveling to Talladega last weekend, but Earnhardt woke up on the morning of the race regretting it.

On Sunday morning, he thought "it was the worst idea," he said. "I was miserable she wasn't here."

That was just more evidence in a mountain of proof that showed Earnhardt how important she is in his life.

"I (used to) just never come out of the bus all weekend," he said. "When I'd go home, I'd sit on the computer and race online. My buddies would call and text me, 'We're going here, going there.' I would never go.

"I thought I was having fun, but I was really miserable. She's made my life a whole lot more enjoyable and showed me how to have fun and showed me there's a lot more to life."

Then there's Earnhardt's family. Dale, mother Brenda and sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller are "getting along great," he said. Kelley runs JR Motorsports, which won the Xfinity Series championship last year, and hosts a show called Fast Lane Family on Earnhardt's Dirty Mo Radio podcast network.

At 40, life is better than ever for Earnhardt. These are the good days.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck