Dale Earnhardt reached a global audience this year. Amazon Prime debuted the documentary, ‘Earnhardt’, which first premiered on May 22nd. It dove into the elements of the legendary driver’s life and personality, seldom known by fans. Overall, it was an in-depth and unfiltered study of the 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s brilliant career.

While a media giant like Amazon Prime rarely harbors any rivals, it may have an unlikely opponent. That happens to be a YouTube channel that surfaced in 2009 under an anonymous name, which revealed an Earnhardt video that Prime did not cover. Although most fans thought it was a fellow NASCAR bug like themselves, it turned out to be none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. unveils unseen footage

In a recent Bless Your Hardt episode, we learned about one of the Intimidator’s commercials. And incidentally, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was an extra. “I found this 20-minute reel of dad trying to read a teleprompter,” Dale Jr. said. “He’s in the deer head shop…He’s in the deer head shop, and I’m an extra…So, I’m in the background waxing the car, and his little head just barely comes above…And so, I’m waxing the car, and Dad’s reading this promo about water beds.”

Although we do not know if Dale Earnhardt actually slept on water beds, we do know about the late champion’s other commercials. The 76-time Cup race winner notably appeared in ads for Wrangler Jeans, his sponsor during his time driving for Bud Moore (1982-1983) and for Richard Childress Racing (1984-1987). Earnhardt appeared in a 1992 TV commercial for Sun Drop, popularly associated with the Earnhardt garage. Then, he also starred in a popular 2000 commercial for the Chevrolet Monte Carlo with his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

All those commercials are the better-known ones – but fans would not have known about Dale Earnhardt’s water bed promotion if not for his son’s obscure YouTube channel. Named JRuploads, run under the handle @Rizzode38, the channel uploaded rare in-car footage of full races through car cameras. It shared in-car VHS footage from Dale Jr.‘s closet archives, dating back to 2000. And recently, the 15-time Most Popular Driver shocked fans by revealing that he was behind it all.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, “I have a YouTube page that’s completely, you know, basic as hell. And every probably 12 months, I’ll upload a video. I’ve got a bunch of VHS tapes in my closet of all of my incars from like 2000, 2001, 2002. And so I found the in-car of my Texas win. In 2000, my first win ever. Wow. And it’s the whole race riding on my car. And so I uploaded it onto this YouTube page…And there’s a couple of people that it’s got like, I don’t know, 80 subscribers.” However, after that revelation, those 80 subscribers have exploded into 3.11K subscribers.

Not only were fans treated well, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. also unearthed a piece of his family heritage. And now, another Earnhardt descendant is expanding it.

The next generation is here

It has been 25 years since Dale Earnhardt won his final NASCAR Cup Series trophy. That was at Talladega Superspeedway on October 15, 2000, when the ‘Intimidator’ drove from the back of the pack to the lead with 6 laps left. A few months later, the legend tragically passed away in the 2001 Daytona 500 – yet his son, Dale Jr., continued the racing legacy. Junior collected 26 Cup Series trophies before hanging up his firesuit in 2016. Now, however, Earnhardt’s grandson is here to take the baton and carry forward his legacy.

Bobby Dale Earnhardt will drive for Rise Motorsports as a full-time ARCA Menards Series driver in 2026. He is Earnhardt’s grandson, Dale Jr.’s nephew, and the late Kerry Earnhardt’s son. He is also the older brother of current driver Jeffrey Earnhardt. After Bobby first appeared in ARCA competition in 2017, he returned in 2025. He ran two races in Bristol and Kansas, and both resulted in DNFs.

For 2026, though, he is more confident. “I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity with Rise Motorsports. This team believes in what we can accomplish, and that fires me up. We’re building something strong for 2026, and I can’t wait to hit the track and show what this group is capable of.” The 38-year-old’s best result came at the Elko Speedway short track in 2017, finishing 19th. He also made seven Xfinity starts between 2017 and 2019, finishing as high as 27th at Kansas.

Evidently, the Earnhardt legacy keeps surprising fans every day. Let’s wait and see how 2026 beckons for Dale Earnhardt’s family.