(USA TODAY) Dale Earnhardt Jr. went to Germany this week in hopes of researching his genealogy. He ended up making plans to add to his family.
Earnhardt got engaged to longtime girlfriend Amy Reimann on Wednesday in Germany, where the couple is vacationing during NASCAR's off-week.
Reimann posted a picture early Wednesday afternoon of the couple posing together in what appeared to be a church, showing off her new engagement ring.
"I'm completely overwhelmed with love & joy," she tweeted. "Happiest girl in the world! I love you so much @DaleJr."
Earnhardt quoted Reimann's tweet and added: "Looking forward to the rest of my life with this amazing girl."
The 40-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver has never been married and mostly kept his relationships out of the spotlight over the years until he began opening up about how much Reimann has changed his outlook on life.
NASCAR fans have been quite fond of pestering Earnhardt about when he planned to pop the question since the couple had been dating since 2009.
"The people we interact with on Twitter are, 'When are you going to do it? Pop the question already,'" Earnhardt said in February. "She gets it more than I do: People telling her all the time I need to put a ring on it. When I turned 40, it really ramped up. People are like, 'Man, your time is running out. Amy is a good girl, what are you waiting for?'"
Now the questions can turn to wedding planning – and possibly Earnhardt's very real jewelry phobia. Earnhardt finds jewelry "creepy" and doesn't like anyone to wear any around him. Of course, he did just put an expensive ring on Reimann's hand.
"We've talked about it," he said in February. "I'm not going to be held accountable (to wear a ring) and she can do whatever she wants. I figure if we ever get to that step in life, I owe her that much. I'll have to put up with (her wearing a ring). But I'm free of all my obligations in that regard."
Earnhardt's Germany trip is now a success whether he finds any documents related to his family history or not. The couple, along with Earnhardt's sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, brother-in-law L.W. Miller and JR Motorsports IT manager Martin Friedrich (a Germany native), is visiting churches and other areas where Earnhardt has traced his roots.
He told USA TODAY Sports last week it was his first visit to Europe aside shooting a Jay-Z video in Monaco for 24 hours in 2006.
"I've got some specific areas narrowed down I want to go see and some buildings I want to go see that I know my family was somewhat connected to," Earnhardt said. "They left Germany in 1744, so all this stuff we're going to see or get close to is more than 300 years old."