Every NASCAR fan knows just how much Dale Earnhardt Sr. loved the Deer Head Shop. It was the Intimidator’s personal race shop on his Mooresville, North Carolina, property, part of the early Dale Earnhardt Inc. campus. More importantly, it was a sacred place where he and his crew worked on late-model cars for himself, Dale Jr., and Kerry, among others.

Right from working on and racing his Sikkens Busch car to Dale Jr. getting pranked with a Lady Cop on his milestone birthday, the Deer Head Shop has seen it all. However, the shop has remained largely untouched after Dale Earnhardt died in 2001, kept off limits by Teresa Earnhardt. But Junior and longtime friend Kevin Pennell took a trip down memory lane and relived the last time they walked out of the shop for good.

Two Beer opens up about his reaction to Earnhardt’s death

Kevin Pennell, also called Two Beer, was one of the crew members in Earnhardt’s garage. In a recent conversation with Junior on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, he couldn’t help but recall the last time he said goodbye to the shop. He said, “I thought the Monday morning afterwards, you know, I felt really, really lost, like, you know, no different than you would have been. Me and Tony Jr. looked at each other and kind of, you know, like, what are we going to do? I mean, we just didn’t have an answer. We walked across the street and walked in there, and sat down. In the Deer Head shop picnic table.”

It all started years ago when Pennell began his career with Dale Jr. while still in high school. What started as a part-time stint quickly became a full-time gig shortly after graduation. He spent his days at the Deer Head Shop, working on late-model cars, even before he got the opportunity to meet Dale Earnhardt in person. During that time, Kevin Pennell worked alongside longtime Earnhardt crew members Tony Eury Sr. and Tony Eury Jr., learning the ropes from some of the sport’s most respected names.

The Deer Head Shop featured three garage bays, Dale Earnhardt’s office, and a loft upstairs, which was stacked with car parts, fluids, shelves, and a cedar closet filled with his uniforms from the 70s onward. It also had items belonging to his children. The shop actually got its name because the loft’s outer wall was lined with dozens of mounted deer heads. We’re talking about the big ones. Fair to say, ‘The Intimidator’ loved to collect trophies.

But all that changed when Teresa Earnhardt claimed everything following her husband’s tragic death in 2001. Tensions boiled over when Junior. moved out of Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2008. It all started when Junior had asked for a 51% ownership stake in the company, but that was denied by his stepmother. And the company officially closed down after the 2009 NASCAR season.

This legal and personal rift reportedly led to restricting their access to any DEI property, with tensions boiling over between the two parties. However, last month, the Dale Earnhardt Inc. campus apparently opened up for a private tour, and two lucky Reddit users got a rare behind-the-scenes look at the DEI complex.

They shared a lot of photos, offering a glimpse of racing history and a sneak peek at Dale Jr’s No. 8 Chevy. This definitely didn’t go unnoticed by the veteran racer, who was more than thrilled to see his car front and center. While reconciliation might be on the cards, it might take its own time. After all, years of hurt don’t vanish in a single day. However, Pennell still has a lot of memories attached to the place and didn’t shy away from sharing some more.

Kevin Pennell rolls back the memory of his first meeting with Dale Earnhardt

As the conversations carried on, Kevin Pennell recalled the time he was working underneath a car in the Deer Head Shop when Tony Eury Jr. had to dash out for something. Right then, the legendary Dale Earnhardt strolled in, wearing his signature cowboy boots in the garage. And that was when Earnhardt proved that he was not just the Intimidator on track, but also off it as well.

Reflecting on the slightly terrifying moment, Kevin recalled, “Because it was the cowboy boots walking on the floor, that walked over the top of me laying underneath the car, and grabbed me by my ankles and drug me out from underneath the car. And I’ve never seen him in person, never been around him. And the first deal was looking straight up at him, and his deal was, who the hell are you? And I got kind of the clammy mouth, you know, stuttering going, ‘K-K-K-K-Kevin.’ And he kind of looked down at me, and says, ‘Well, I’m glad to meet you,’ and he started stuttering, going ‘K-K-K-K-Kevin.’ And that’s how we struck things off.”

Their bond grew over the years, and it was Dale Earnhardt who gave Pennell his nickname, ‘Two Beer,’ after a late-model race in the Myrtle Beach area. Kevin, too young to join the crew for drinks, sat in the truck and had a few beers alone, just enough to earn the memorable moniker. Today, he looks back on those cherished memories with pride. After all, how many can say they’ve worked with arguably the greatest NASCAR driver in history?