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Jeffrey Earnhardt belongs to auto racing. The grandson of legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, he has been working his way towards the sport’s major league circuit for years. At 22 years old, that’s a goal he’s still chasing. It’s in his blood. But he’s been infected.

Like many young athletes, Earnhardt has fallen in love with mixed martial arts, first as a fan, and now as a practitioner. And on Tuesday, Earnhardt will become a two-sport athlete when he makes his MMA debut at an event called Fight Lab 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The bantamweight bout, which will be contested under amateur status, came about organically, after Earnhardt decided to pick up MMA as a way to get in optimal shape.

In many ways, it is a story similar to many others we’ve heard before. He had wrestled for a couple years in high school, and after some time off, eased his way into jiu-jitsu classes. That seemed fun enough, and before he knew it, he was adding boxing training to his schedule.

That went well, too, to the point that the people around him were quick to let him know that he was good. Perhaps even good enough to take things to the next level and compete.

“I personally was really enjoying the training until we talked about it, and one thing led to another, and we decided we’d try an amateur fight,” he told MMA Fighting. “So here we are today.”

Like many, Earnhardt first got into MMA as a spectator as the UFC grew its business in the mid-2000s. But by that time, he already knew what he wanted to do for a living, racing on the local scene from the time of his early teenage years.

At the time, he had never had a thought about training. It was only when his two roommates — both college wrestlers — decided to try it out that he decided to tag along. Ironically, Earnhardt is the one taking it the furthest, as neither of them has yet to fight.

Unlike most others who sign up for that first fight, Earnhardt has no illusions about a bigtime MMA career. From the beginning, this has been mostly a side project for him that complements his main job.

He is candid about where MMA ranks on his personal hierarchy, and even if the dropoff isn’t far from racing, it’s still at No. 2. This is mostly about being ready for the big races, with his next being the NASCAR Nationwide Daytona Subway Jalapeno 250 on July 6.

“I’ve never been in this kind of shape in my entire life, and that includes back when I was wrestling in high school,” he said. “It’s real intense, it’s a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed it ever since I started. I like being fit and prepared for these races, especially in the summer when it’s really hot out. It’s definitely going to come in handy.”

That doesn’t mean he’s not taking his fight seriously, preparing with his team at Renegade Fighting Systems in Charlotte. He also has a scouting report on his opponent, Chris Faison, as one of his training partners — David Worrell — previously fought with and beat him.

“It’s kind of an advantage to have a little insight from working with him,” said Earnhardt, whose fight will be available for purchase on his website. “Those things will help me in my fight. These guys are preparing me extremely well for the fight, and I’m going to go out and do the best I can. Whatever I come out with is what I got.”

Earnhardt doesn’t draw many parallels between auto racing and MMA except for the extreme competition level and the mental focus needed to win.

Around the track, word of his foray into a second sport has gotten around. So far, the reaction has been mixed. Some think he’s crazy to take the risk of fighting; others are impressed at his courage to do so. Because the two sports have similar demographics, he thinks there will be some crossover in terms of interest surrounding his fight, and maybe even some mainstream sports observers watching, and he has a message he’d like to get out.

“A lot of people don’t see race car athletes as true athletes,” he said. “They don’t think we’re capable of doing anything other than sitting in a car and driving in a circle. A lot of people don’t understand the reality of it. This is an opportunity to prove to people that race car drivers are athletes. It’s a lot harder than people realize. Hopefully this MMA fight will help people realize that, and that we can hold our own as athletes.”

And if he does help people learn that, and he does so by winning, is there any chance that Earnhardt scraps racing, or makes MMA his primary sport? For now, he’s shut the book on that possibility. Like his famous grandfather, he plans to make his name in a car, even if it takes him on an occasional side route from track to cage.

“Racing is my priority,” he said. “I’m going to keep pushing in that. I love MMA, but it’s only going to be in my spare time. They’re both a lot of fun, but I’m definitely keeping my day job.”

Drunk-driving isn’t a stupid mistake; it’s a stupid decision, one often made by otherwise intelligent people. We all know the potential risks and the real costs, so not much more needs to be said about that.

Jon Jones will have a penalty to pay, if as the Broome County, New York Sheriff’s Department alleges, he made this same stupid decision in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The UFC light-heavyweight champion may face jail time and a fine.

All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. Thankfully, no one else was hurt, and he didn’t suffer any injuries that will affect his career.

If in the end, it simply costs him a car (his Bentley was reportedly totaled), some sponsorship money, a fine and community service, he will have certainly dodged a bullet. But for a man who has been accused of artificially crafting a squeaky clean reputation, the damage goes beyond the tangible and the legal. He has dented his own good name.

In times of adversity, true character is revealed. You are among the many who thought him to be a “fraud”? You wanted to know about the “real” Jon Jones? Here you go.

There is no permanent hiding place from this. At some point, he will re-enter the public arena and talk about it, and maybe Jones and the army of skeptics can reach an understanding that he’s parts revolutionary athlete and normal human, equally capable of temporary brilliance in a cage and like anyone else, momentary idiocy in real life.

Jones’ reputation has been one that many felt was a little too carefully cultivated. This has always puzzled me. Why shouldn’t a professional athlete always try to put his best foot forward? There were plenty who called him a fake, as though all of us reveal every bit of ourselves to the world at all times. That’s why it came as no surprise that some were downright celebratory at the news of his arrest, so desperate to be right that his image was a sham that they were willing to cheer another person’s failure.

Regardless of what Jones has said or done in the past, he has never claimed to be anything other than a human being, and any human is capable of having bad — even terrible — judgment from from time to time.

Jones is 24 years old. He may have accomplished a lot at a young age; he may be a father, but he is still a young man.

This does not excuse what he allegedly did. It is not a reason for it, either. It’s just a realization that judgment is sometimes clouded by the seeming indestructibility of youth. It’s no accident that according to government statistics, the highest percentage of drunk drivers are the ones from ages 21-24.

Once you start getting a little older and have some time behind you, you realize that for many, youth is a time spent doing stupid things and hoping to survive.

Luckily for him, he did. On the other hand, his life is about to get a lot less comfortable. He’s going to have answer questions, he’s going to get stares and the criticism? It’s just getting started. Advertisers will most certainly not be pleased. His long-hoped-for deal with Nike? That’s probably going to the back burner for the foreseeable future.

How will he handle all that?

It’s always easy to smile and present yourself to the world when times are good. It’s not so easy when the world is looking down their noses at you. Money can buy you a good lawyer, a PR team and a new Bentley, but it can’t restore a reputation.

Addressing those issues are ultimately up to Jones.

So far, he’s said little. His usually active Twitter account has been silent since early Friday evening except for a single Tweet reading “God is good.” His Facebook page and website haven’t been updated in days. The only words uttered by anyone connected to Jones have come from his management, simply confirming the arrest and offering their support.

The UFC is unlikely to penalize him. UFC president Dana White didn’t discipline featherweight Ross Pearson following his own recent DUI charges.

“I’m a realist,” White said at the time. “You can’t expect all these people to be perfect. I understand they’re role models. They’re human beings. They’re going to make mistakes. I’m one of those guys that believes we’re all going to make mistakes. It’s how you handle it after you make that mistake that tells you who you really are.”

White will most certainly take the same approach with Jones. That means he’s only going to face the Broome County courts, and the court of public opinion. In the former, he’ll only need to have an understanding of the law. In the latter, he’ll need the candid truth.

If you believe that Jones’ reputation was a crock, then you should also believe the public backlash he’s going to receive is just as important to him as his legal situation. His reputation is right now the only thing other than his car that was damaged by the incident. If you wanted a dent in the Jones’ facade, you got one. If that is a cause for celebration for you, well, that just proves that you, too, are capable of stupid decisions. The rest of us will wait to see if the real Jon Jones steps up to show his true character.

SAN JOSE — What’s next for Daniel Cormier?

That was the question on everyone’s mind after he manhandled veteran Josh Barnett to win the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament on Saturday night at the HP Pavilion.

Will he go straight to the UFC, where he’d clearly fit in among the division’s elite, or will he fight again in Strikeforce?

The answer, for now: Neither. A visit to the surgeon is on deck before anything else goes down in Cormier’s career.

Cormier broke his right hand in the opening stanza of his five-round battle with the former UFC heavyweight champion. It was the same hand he broke when he knocked out Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in September in the tournament semifinals.

The former Olympic wrestler decided against surgery the first time around, which made for an eight-month stretch between his fights. This time, he wants to let it properly heal.

“I think this time I’m going to take a different approach,” Cormier said. “I think I’m going to have surgery on it and get it fixed, because I don’t want it to be recurring and then end up costing me later and later on down the line.”

Cormier never bothered telling his corner that he thought his hand was broken. Instead, the early injury forced him to improvise.

“You’re in a fight, you have to use all your weapons,” said Cormier. “That’s why I was kicking, I was punching, I was kneeing him in there. Josh is too good to fight handicapped. I don’t think my coaches picked up on [the injury] because I didn’t tell them. I just kept fighting.”

That approach led to an epiphany for the undefeated American Kickboxing Academy star during the second round, which led to the fight turning to his favor for good.

“The biggest surprise was when I took him down in the second round and just kind of stayed here,” Cormier said. “It was very surprising to me how easy it was to stay in his guard, he’s such a good leg lock guy that I thought maybe he would let me pass through his half-guard or something.

“I made an adjustment in the fight when I realized he was going to allow me to control him on the bottom. It was a little easier with my strikes when I realized he was going to respect my takedowns. It changed things a little bit.”

Still, Cormier was impressed with the toughness displayed by his opponent, who wasn’t at the post-fight press conference.

“Josh did a great job,” Cormier said. “He fought tough, he fought hard, he was in there in my face the whole time. I couldn’t believe some of the shots that I landed in there, especially the two head kicks. I couldn’t believe that he stayed up.”

Cormier has one fight left on his Strikeforce contract. He hopes to fight again in 2012. No one would speculate as to whom Cormier would meet. After all, who knows what Strikeforce will look like six months down the road? Cormier simply wishes to focus on getting healthy.

“Normally when you get surgery you get it to heal faster,” he said. “It’s not as bad as it was the first time, because the first time, I could hardly I even move it.”

And besides, Cormier has been through far worse predicaments in life than a broken hand, both in competition, where he came up short in several international wrestling meets, and more importantly, in his personal life, where he has coped with quite a bit of tragedy. The heavyweight, who was emotional in the cage after the win, waxed philosophical during the press conference.

“When you think about everyone’s trials and tribulations, for me, getting knocked down and getting back up, it made me a stronger person,” Cormier said. “Everything’s turned back around. Not only is my career going great, but I have two young kids, a great girlfriend, it’s just everything is on the up and up right now.”

“Now matter how bad things get, eventually the sun is going to shine. “If you just keep it at, pursuing your goals, eventually good things happen to decent people. For a person who is set on his goals, good things happen. Everyone deals with adversity. It’s how you bounce back from it.”