When Dale Sr. got mad at “little j**k” Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a T-shirt that could have ignited a feud with Bill Elliott

Dale Jr. and Bill Elliott’s son Chase Elliott were teammates for two years at Hendrick Motorsports.

When Dale Sr. got mad at “little j**k” Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a T-shirt that could have ignited a feud with Bill Elliott

Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his father, the seven-time Cup Series Champion Dale Earnhardt, had a special bond.  Dale Sr. played a huge role in his son’s growth into one of the most successful NASCAR drivers ever. The urge and determination to win races at any cost were one of the most prominent traits of the No:3 RCR driver. His commitment to the team has often made him mad if he sees people close to him using something representing his rivals.

Dale Jr. once had many such disturbing many such incidents where he intentionally or un-intentionally pissed off his father. One such incident occurred when he was 13 years old, and the story involves NASCAR legend, Bill Eliot. Million Dollar Bill holds the driver’s record with Most Popular Driver of the Year honors. Jr. ranks second on the list.

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During the 1987 Talladega Cup race, a naïve Dale Jr. picked up a T-Shirt from the track which he found cool to wear.  It featured the cars of Elliott and Dale Sr. merged together with a text that reads, ‘Guess who ran into me today?’. The current JR Motorsports owner had the No:3 airbrushed to it, and he felt that it made it a Dale Sr. shirt. The text depicted a run-in among the legends during that year’s All-Star race.

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Dale Sr. wasn’t impressed by his son’s actions after he found him walking around the garage with the T-Shirt. He made him change it on the location. Dale Jr. pointed out that his father didn’t want to “He didn’t like the insinuation of conflict. He didn’t want his son walking around the garage and Bill seeing it, going, ‘What a little jerk that kid is.’”.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares details of the incident in his podcast

Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

In the 2023 March episode of Dale Jr. Download, the semi-retired driver explained the incident while talking to the 23XI Racing driver. He said, “Dad and Bill Elliott ran into each other at the All-Star Race in 1987, and we go to Talladega, and they had these bootlegged shirts that said, ‘Guess who ran into me today?’ And it basically had Bill’s colors and Dad’s colors equally smeared across the shirt. Either fan could wear it,”.

“I took the shirt and went over to the Talladega short track. I’m 13. I had Dad’s number airbrushed into the shirt. In my mind, now it’s Dad’s car. Look, there’s Dad’s door. I thought I had a badass shirt. I walked over to the Cup garage the next day or later that day, and Dad saw that thing and made me take it off right there. He was so mad at me. I was like, ‘What Dad? This is cool.’ And he was pissed off. And I was like, ‘But it’s your number. It’s your shirt.’ He was, ‘No.’  Dale Jr. added.

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