Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Father Confronted Him When He Shared His NASCAR Dream

Published 07/16/2022, 2:15 PM EDT

In a recent podcast hosted by Greg Olsen, he spoke with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch. Among many things, Olsen asked Dale about his experiences growing up as his father was none other than the racing legend Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Dale Jr. said, “he knew racing, and the way racing kind of works, at least the way it did back then, is he took the slower car, and he learned how to make that car better.”

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Adding, “he didn’t help. He didn’t show any interest in me becoming a race car driver. You know, there were days when I’d walk up and go, I wanna race! I wanna become a race car driver! And he’s like, Well, what are you doing to make that happen?’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ He’s like, Well you should be in the garage cleaning tools.”

“I was sweeping floors when I was your age.”

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“I’m like, “Well how does that get me to driving? That don’t make no sense, right? And it took me a while to figure that out, but he would not lift a finger unless you were willing to do the same, you know, and show some initiative.”

It is quite interesting to hear these conversations, as Dale doesn’t often speak about this side of his relationship with Dale Earnhardt Sr.

The Last win of Dale Earnhardt Sr. at Talladega

Earnhardt senior is arguably one of the most famous drivers in NASCAR history. He won a total of 76 races throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career. Also, 10 of those victories came at the Talladega Superspeedway.

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PHOENIX, AZ — November 6, 1999: Although he finished second to Jeff Gordon in the Outback Steakhouse 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (L) and his dad Dale Earnhardt (R) had plenty of reason to celebrate, as the younger Earnhardt clinched the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series championship even though there was still one race to run the following week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

Back in October 2000, just about 4 months before his untimely tragic demise, Earnhardt Sr. took a win at the Talladega Superspeedway that was one of the most impressive wins of his illustrious career.

He was in 18th place with just four laps to go. Somehow, in a mind-boggling manner, he managed to dash past all 17 cars ahead of him, including that of his son. It was nothing short of a wonder how he pulled it off.

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He showcased his great racecraft that day and took the chequered flag. Meanwhile, his son, Dale Jr. ended up finishing 14th, after he got loose and hit the apron while his father was taking over the lead.

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Written by:

Srijan Mandal is a NASCAR author at EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Journalism and has been writing for his own blog, 'Noobs Onboard', for a while now, covering NASCAR, F1, W Series, MotoGP, WRC and the WEC. Following motorsports for more than a decade now, he has become a devout supporter of McLaren Racing, Sir Lewis Hamilton, and Ayrton Senna.

Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh