Dale Earnhardt Jr. is doing a fatherhood victory lap!
The NASCAR driver, 46, and his wife Amy welcomed a baby girl on Monday, Oct. 12, he revealed on his podcast The Dale Jr. Download on Thursday. "Many people are wondering why this episode of the Download is late this week. Well there's a good reason," he teased on Instagram, directing fans to listen to the episode for details.
The newest addition joins 2-year-old big sister Isla Rose, making the Earnhardts a family of four.
"We got a new addition," Earnhardt Jr. proudly said on the podcast. "… It is awesome. Amy had a pretty good pregnancy, and she said it felt like it was a long one because of COVID and all that, but we ain't gonna complain because we got a healthy little baby girl."
Earnhardt Jr. revealed that his new daughter is named Nicole Lorraine, Nicole coming from Amy's middle name and Lorraine from his mom's middle name.
The dad said they've had a "smooth" transition since coming home, adding that Nicole was "extremely quiet" her first day on the planet. "It's going great," he said.
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Amy, 38, announced her pregnancy on Instagram with the help of daughter Isla — who couldn't have been more over the moon about the news that she would soon be getting a baby sibling.
"I'm gonna be a sister!" the toddler adorably proclaimed in a video Amy posted on March 18, throwing her hands in the air in excitement.
Amy followed up with a clip of the moment she told her husband the good news, showing him reacting to seeing Isla wearing a shirt saying, "Super Amazing Sister." The message led the race-car driver to hilariously respond, "What?! How do you know it's a girl?!"
"She's the sister either way!" Amy told Earnhardt Jr. of Isla, while the couple laughed and the second-time dad-to-be said of his wife's pregnancy, smiling, "Really?! Oh my God! This is a joke!"
Earnhardt Jr. was elected into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in June after earning 76 percent of all votes cast on the organization's Modern Era ballot, according to ESPN. Throughout his career, he has won 26 races, including two Daytona 500s. He retired from full-time racing in 2017.
"Just talking about it, it's really emotional because I feed off affirmation," Earnhardt Jr. — who now serves as an analyst for NBC — told the outlet after receiving the news.
"It's such a great feeling to know people think I made an impact," he added. "I know what my numbers are, and I feel like I was chosen because of that, but also for the impact I made off the track, being an ambassador for the sport."
Earnhardt Jr. will officially join his late father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., in the Hall of Fame in 2021. Drivers Mike Stefanik, who died in a plane crash at age 61 in 2019, and Red Farmer (voted in on the Pioneer ballot) will also be inducted next year.
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