Journalist Marty Smith is known to sports fans across the country today as one of ESPN’s most recognizable faces. He served as NASCAR’s lead reporter for seven years, went on to host his own show on the network, and has interviewed some of the biggest stars in the garage, along with legends from other sports. But none of that may have been possible had he not been confronted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. over a costly mistake he made early in his career.
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Smith was young and ambitious. He wanted the NASCAR community to know he was the real deal, which is why, when he sat down for an interview with Jeff Gordon, he tried to take complete control and steer the conversation in the direction he wanted. He kept interrupting Gordon, and when Earnhardt Jr. saw him after the interview had aired on an ESPN pre-show, he laid it out to him.
“So I walk over to him, and he turns his back to the assemblage and lays into me. He goes, ‘Hey, you need to shut up. You need to shut your mouth. And I was ready to bust him in the jaw.'” Smith recalled on the How Leaders Lead podcast with host David Novak.
Smith admitted in the same interview that he was not really listening to what Gordon, a four-time Cup Series champion with 93 wins in the series, was saying. What he did was admittedly ‘prying’.
“He [Dale] goes, ‘I was watching that interview you did with Jeff. And there were a lot of things that he was getting ready to expound upon, and you cut him off. And it was rude. And you know it. Don’t do that. You look foolish.'” Smith continued, describing what proved to be a pivotal moment in his career.
The two became really close after this incident. Dale Jr. handled it perfectly because instead of lashing out at him in front of everyone, he made sure no one else in the room found out about this criticism.
Smith, of course, was momentarily mad at Dale Jr. for calling him out, but that was because he knew that the feedback was valid. For many, ego would have taken the front seat in a situation like this, but Marty Smith decided to work on it and not make the same mistake ever again. “I’m forever indebted to him,” Smith added.
Over the years, Smith has interviewed icons like seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, the late, great two-time champion Kyle Busch, and even Gordon at a later point in his career, where there were no awkward cutoffs or interruptions. Additionally, Smith has traveled across the world talking to legendary athletes from other sports, including Portuguese soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo and Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy.
Had Dale Jr. not intervened that day, perhaps none of this would have been possible.