“Took Too Many Pills… Didn’t Mean to Kill Himself”: Dale Earnhardt Jr Seconded Martha Earnhardt’s Elvis Theory in 2019

The Earnhardt family has been an instrumental part of NASCAR history. Dale Earnhardt Jr, one of NASCAR’s legends, and a very popular driver, continues to provide a lot of fans a reason to follow NASCAR.

On his famous Dale Jr Download podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr sat down with his grandmother, Martha Earnhardt, in 2019. Dale Jr. asked her, “Were you sad when Elvis passed away?” A dejected Martha said, “Oh yeah!” Dale instantaneously added, “That was a dark day,” to which Martha agreed, “It was”. “Good lord! Surprising,” said Junior.

Martha then said, “I don’t think he meant to kill himself. I just think he took too many pills to get calm down. I really don’t think he meant to do that. [Of course, he didn’t Mammaw].”

Dale Jr. said, “Damn man, he didn’t mean to kill himself. I think he just didn’t know how much he was doing. How bad he was treating himself. He was not doing right. Elvis, dang.”

He then shifted to another topic. “There are many various versions of Elvis. You know, you got the Elvis from the movies, the ‘69 comeback special Elvis, and then you got the Vegas 70s Elvis. I kinda like that one… The Hawaii Elvis, the Vegas… kinda like mid-70s, early 70s… big jumpsuits. Which was your favorite Elvis?”

Martha had a simple answer – “When he sang All Shook Up.” (everybody laughed)

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Elvis was the man a lot of NASCAR’s earlier generation grew up adoring. His death was a shock to millions.

NASCAR’s connection with Dale Earnhardt Jr’s hero

In the 1960s and 1970s, Elvis was a rage. The actor and singer had loads of fans of his striking looks, his beautiful voice, iconic moves, and everything – Elvis. But one of his movies brought him even greater fandom in NASCAR.

Elvis had previously done two movies where he had posed as a racing driver. However, both these movies, Viva Las Vegas (1964) and Spinout (1966) were movies where he raced a sports car; much different from the stock cars of NASCAR.

He finally acted in a NASCAR-themed movie in 1968, when he signed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)’s Speedway.

They primarily shot the movie at Charlotte Motor Speedway for its racing scenes. A number of NASCAR stars, such as Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Buddy Baker, were part of its cast of racing drivers.

However, Bobby Allison played the most instrumental part. The driver was responsible for effectively acting as Elvis’ double, as they fit his car with cameras. MGM transported cameras worth $500,000 and fitted Bobby’s car as he raced at the 1967 World 600 at Charlotte.

Norman Taurog directed speedway and featured stars like Nancy Sinatra, Bill Bixby, and Gale Gordon.

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A truly amazing story of The King of Rock and Roll; he never failed to amaze audiences and incredibly, does so even today.