Normally a ninth-place result isn't much to celebrate, but after a disappointing 23rd in qualifying and overcoming several hurdles in the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was proud of his finish in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.


And NASCAR's most popular driver wasn't the only one to recognize the significance of his accomplishment. Earnhardt's mother, Brenda, sent him a text message after the race in which she compared him to his famous father:


This message has all the aspects of a good text from mom -- encouragement, abbreviations and a typo. Brenda didn't have the nicest things to say about her son's Hendrick No. 88 Chevrolet, but credit to Junior for setting the record straight.

Earnhardt has gained an enormous Twitter following the few months he's been on the social network, and this tweet is a good example of why. The 39-year-old isn't afraid to let fans into his personal life.

Even with his ninth-place finish, Earnhardt remains in second place in the Sprint Cup standings, 24 points behind leader Jeff Gordon. Earnhardt will try to make up some ground this weekend when he takes the track at Pocono Raceway in hopes of defending his title there from 2013.