“I didn’t care if I died. I didn’t want it to happen, but I was miserable in general all the time. I didn’t give a f—.” The 2001 Daytona 500 race changed Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s life forever, as the loss of his father triggered a period of numbness. Yet, just a week after, he returned to the track at Rockingham, crashing into the wall 23 seconds in. Later, a crash in California served as a wake-up call for him to find a way to keep racing. Today, that pain has reduced, but it hasn’t left him.

Yet again, the Earnhardt family is grappling with the loss of their best friend, 15-year-old Pomeranian, Junebug. Amy Earnhardt took to Instagram to share the painful news, writing, “Yesterday my tiny Junebug made his way over the rainbow bridge. My heart is broken.” Earlier this year, they had openly shared Junebug’s health struggles, which left him fragile. Even in the face of these challenges, Junebug remained the heart of their home. But amidst it all, Dale Jr.’s lack of empathy crept in.

Speaking on the Bless Your ‘Hardt, Dale Jr. went about explaining his mechanical understanding of death while linking it to the devastating loss of The Intimidator: “I had a very big loss back in 2001 with dad. And that’s something you traditionally expect to happen later in life. But you kind of get this unfortunate situation early. I have experienced something that a lot of people will experience later… Now, when another loss happens in life, or the next person passes…even though I love Junebug to death and I will miss him terribly, I don’t grieve. I don’t know why. It’s not like I don’t appreciate him and love him, but like that part of me is not working right.” 

Despite the overwhelming grief, Dale Earnhardt Jr. found a way to honor his father’s legacy and find peace. Earlier this year, he shared that returning to Daytona International Speedway, the site of his father’s death, was a pivotal moment in his healing process. Returning as JR Motorsport’s team owner, he explained, “I had to make a decision… I knew it wasn’t the track that took him. And I knew that wherever he is, he still felt the same about Daytona. And so, I’ve embraced it.”

While describing the box they intend to bury Junebug in, Jr. said, “It is a plastic box that somebody dug a hole and put in the ground… The box there is a hole the same size as the hole we dug for Junebug. I thought I was describing the hole for Junebug.” To this, Amy Earnhardt, his wife, shook her head.

She replied, “He doesn’t have empathy. Like, his empathy chip is situational, I guess. I don’t know. He didn’t have it yesterday, not in that moment.” And after Dale Junior went on to explain why he doesn’t grieve, Amy could not hold back her tears while talking about Junebug. She added, “Yes. I think that your empathy chip has been damaged.”

Dale Junior sat there with a stoic face, knowing that he had lost a lot along the way. And as the family puts down their heartfelt tribute to Junebug, Dale Junior is grounded in another type of devotion to preserve NASCAR’s soul, as seen in his recent call for a return to the full-season point system.

Dale Jr. pushes for the old playoff format with a story about his late dad

Junior appeared to align with Denny Hamlin‘s push for a playoff format change, reflecting on lessons from his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr. The current Series playoff setup, with its reset and eliminations, has faced criticism from both current drivers like Hamlin and veterans such as Mark Martin. Now, Junior raised his voice, emphasizing the mistakes that can be lost under the current system.

On Hamlin’s Actions Detrimental podcast, he said, “What I am missing right now is the heavy drama that would play out in the regular season. We don’t go to a racetrack in the summer and leave with pure elation because our favorite driver just extended his points lead from 25 to 80, or he crawled himself out of a hole.” He recalled his father’s fierce 1980s battle with Rusty Wallace at Charlotte, where a cam failure left him 80 points behind.

In 1984 at Bristol, The Intimidator was in a battle for the championship with Terry Labonte. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was leading the race 250 laps into the 500-lapper at Bristol. However, he came sliding down the front straightaway backward on four flat tires. Junior recalled at that moment that it was, “This is a chunk of points we can’t afford to lose. It was super, super emotional. It was like a gut punch.”

And now with the current playoffs format, Junior admitted that it doesn’t have “those moments anymore.” And while Junior is just one of the many around the sport to ponder if a change in the playoff format would be beneficial, Mike Forde confirms that changes are likely after the 2025 season.