What does NASCAR mean to Dale Earnhardt Jr.?
Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jr. are one of the six father-and-son duos inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Credits: IMAGO)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the most popular drivers in the history of NASCAR. Born to NASCAR royalty, the son of seven times Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt had every resource at his disposal to become one of the drivers of the sport. Though Jr. never matched his father’s legacy, he wrote a unique one.
The two times Xfinity champion drove for some of the best Cup and Xfinity series teams in NASCAR and produced some stellar runs. He retired from full-time racing in 2017 with 26 Cup series wins, and 24 Xfinity series wins. He also won back-to-back 15 Most Popular Driver awards in his Cup tenure. Dale Jr. is now a successful entrepreneur, sports pundit, team owner, podcast host, and the wealthiest NASCAR driver.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Dale Jr. was asked what NASCAR means. He answered that it’s more than just metal and gas; the premier stock racing scene is about family and friendship. He said, “Besides bent sheet metal and burnt motor oil? NASCAR is an ever-evolving machine. Looking back over the decades of change is overwhelming. But there is one constant that was always dependable,”.
“NASCAR is community. It’s relationships. It’s people. The cars are constantly changing. The rules change, as do the facilities. But the constant is that people are the most critical ingredient. You race your entire life with family and friends, and that bond you create during the long days at the track is as durable as the anvil dad used to hammer out a homemade drive shaft hoop in 1984 for his Nova that now sits on the shop floor at JRM,” He added.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Shares details of his childhood around NASCAR
Dale Jr. grew up around NASCAR, and his grandfather’s car collections always fascinated him. He witnessed Dale Sr. working hard every week on the car to check out the best results. The Dirty Mo Media owner was friends with kids of racers or crew members and would stroll around the Cup garages seeing stock-beasts in the making. He and his friends never missed the opportunity t hit the go-kart tracks every race weekend.
“Gatherings at my grandfather Robert Gee’s highlighted Charlotte race weekends. I eagerly analyzed all the various race cars that would come through his backyard garage. Short track, dirt, asphalt cars, big buck NASCAR Cup machines, his own Busch Grand National cars he polished and shined. The Gee family would gather on the back deck for steaks grilled by Robert,” Dale Jr. said.
“Everyone had kids our age, it seemed. We all got along for the most part unless our dads wrecked each other. We would go up and down pit road begging teams to let us wax their cars. We never missed a pay-to-ride go-kart track in any town on the series schedule. We huddled in motel rooms building model cars at 2 a.m. and laid washers on the Darlington railroad tracks for the 1 a.m. train,” Dale Jr. added.
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Justin P Joy
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