For Dale Earnhardt, ‘Intimidator’ wasn’t just a nickname; it was his entire personality. Drivers feared not getting on the wrong side of him to escape his true terror on track. Imagine how it would feel to be a rookie in that era and earn his retribution. That’s exactly what Kurt Busch had to go through, who didn’t even directly mess with him.

Kurt Busch’s tense encounter with Dale Earnhardt

In the 2000 Cup Series season, Busch did not even receive a full-time seat yet. Still, he ended up crashing out Dale Earnhardt Jr. due to a lack of necessary judgment. Though Junior didn’t mind it, saying he won’t “try to kill him,” Dale Sr. had already marked Kurt Busch. In an interview for the FOX show, We’ve Lost Dale Earnhardt: 25 Years Later, Busch recalls the terrifying encounter he had with Earnhardt Sr.

“With being a rookie, of course, I am going to be nervous already, and at Rockingham on a fresh set of tires, I caught Dale Jr. so fast, I flat out dumped him. That was a mess-up. So the next season, Dale Sr. was just on my bumper. I know what I did; I wrecked your son. I just flat-out thought he was going to dump me, DNF, and head it home early. So I literally pulled over on the front straightaway, Sr. goes by, and then on the back straightaway, he pulls up from the back straightaway and lets me pass by.”

Even if you do not follow NASCAR, you might already recognize what was about to happen. This was a warning that Dale Earnhardt Sr. did not like what Busch did to his son. Now, it was going to be time for payback.

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“He’s pissed; he just sat there and wore me out, wanting to sweat me. It was probably the longest 40 laps of my life. He wanted to set the tone of ‘This is my show; screw it up, kid, and you’re going to be in a world of hurt.”

Eventually, the two drivers ended up making door-to-door contact, as Earnhardt flashed him the middle finger gesture at 180 miles an hour. It would be his only encounter with Kurt Busch, as Earnhardt ended up crashing out on the last lap, losing his life at the 2001 Daytona 500. Kurt Busch was the last driver to have a memorable racing moment against Dale Earnhardt, owing to their little altercation on track at Daytona.

On his social media, Kurt Busch shared a video about the same, calling himself proud to be a part of the Intimidator’s history.

When can you watch We’ve Lost Dale Earnhardt: 25 Years Later?

The FOX documentary on Dale Earnhardt and his final NASCAR race is going to stream on FS1 at 10 p.m. ET after the Daytona Duels. It features multiple interviews from on-track rivals and cinematic storytelling to mark the 25th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s unfortunate death in the Cup Series.

The movie, which will be told through exclusive first-person accounts, is the result of the longstanding partnership between FOX and NASCAR. According to John Dahl, NASCAR SVP of content, “Through the prism of those indelible words, this documentary explores that fateful day and the profound impact it continues to have a quarter-century later.”

However, the documentary has earned some considerable backlash. The entire NASCAR community is especially frustrated and furious at NASCAR for overdoing the documentary. Since there are already many amazing releases that focus exclusively on Dale Earnhardt’s story, viewers feel like NASCAR is only trying to profit from his death.

Are you watching the documentary? If so, then let us know how you feel about it.