What separates a good driver from a great one? In the past, Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t the composed, cautious driver that we see today. In an interview with Kelly Clarkson, he admitted, “I had a few issues in the first two years of having my license, from 16 to 18.” Those issues? Four speeding tickets were issued, each by a different police officer, who also claimed to have issued his father’s initial ticket. It appears that the Earnhardt family has a history of being stopped for speeding!
“I got four tickets, and the funny thing about it is, is that it was four different officers who told me they all gave my dad his first ticket, so I don’t know how that is possible.” Even though Dale Jr. has developed into a safe driver on the road, his talent for accuracy behind the wheel truly comes to the fore on the racetrack—after all, he has won the Daytona 500 twice. He rose to prominence as one of NASCAR’s most well-liked and identifiable drivers for the following 20 years. However, his precision is a little more… adaptable when he drives home.
Dale Earnhardt Jr: “I’ve Busted the Tail Light Outta This Son-of-Gun”
His accuracy behind the wheel originally characterized Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career as a two-time Daytona 500 champion. However, his lack of accuracy at home was the main focus of a recent episode of The Dale Jr. Download. Dale Jr. and his wife Amy provided a glimpse of their home life in a podcast titled “Bless Your Hardt,” complete with a broken taillight, chipped stone, and some shrewd marital teasing.
“So I have a confession today,” Dale Jr. began, fully aware he was opening himself up to scrutiny. Amy’s reaction was immediate and gleeful: “I find this to be karmic.” The backstory? In an earlier episode, Amy had admitted that she was inattentive and had unintentionally struck their garage door. However, Dale Jr. took it a step further this time by parking his pickup directly into their detached garage’s stone corner.
“This has never happened before,” he said. “I backed my truck into the detached garage, backing out of my garage to leave. I have to turn, and I didn’t turn enough. I never hit this wall.” Amy was quick to correct the understatement. “He didn’t just hit the wall, he hit the stone on the corner and chipped it.” Then the lighthearted squabbling accelerated. Amy noted that the damage, despite its seeming minorness, was difficult to repair. “It’s gonna stay that way, we are not gonna fix this,” she added.
Dale tried to downplay it. “The chip’s a half inch by a half inch. It’s not a big deal.” Amy disagreed. “Either way, it’s not a piece of wall that you can easily fix.” But the real punchline came when Dale Jr. discovered he hadn’t just chipped the house—he’d done more damage to his vehicle. “What’s worse is a broken brake light on my truck,” he said. “I get out, I look around at the wall, and I’m like, ‘s—.’ I looked at my bumper and got a little scuff. I rub it and—aw, that’s not a big deal. Then I looked on the ground and I saw red plastic. I was like, ‘holy s—! I’ve busted the tail light outta this son-of-a-gun.”
For a driver who used to make split-second maneuvers at superspeedways, the irony wasn’t lost on him. “I’m like, I’m getting old,” he admitted. “I correlate that to getting old—losing your sort of sense of space.” Amy didn’t let up. “It’s a big space,” she said. “You can three-point turn this thing with a Suburban. It’s not a small area, and he just rammed it.” “I did,” he admitted.
The Dale Jr. Download’s Bless Your Hardt show has grown to be a fan favorite because it allows Earnhardt and Amy to openly discuss the kinds of commonplace accidents that make even racing giants relatable. These moments show Dale Jr.’s life after racing, replete with kids, clutter, and the odd crumpled truck, far removed from the high banks of Talladega or the tight bends at Martinsville. Misjudging a garage turn may be humiliating for a person who used to run 200 mph, but it’s also what keeps spectators interested. He’s still driving, but he has a lot more comedy and a little more leeway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Daytona: “Strange Feeling of Freedom”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. faced the difficult task of going back to the track that had permanently altered his life in the months after his father’s death in the 2001 Daytona 500. Most anticipated sadness, perhaps even resentment, but Junior experienced something much more nuanced. “I just had this feeling that I shouldn’t be mad at it. I shouldn’t dread going to Daytona,” he admitted. “But at the same time, there was this weird feeling… this really strange feeling of freedom.”
He emphasized that freedom was accompanied by guilt. He had just begun his Cup Series career at the age of 26, and all of a sudden, he was the leader of an empire. “I felt guilty even about feeling that way at all,” he said. “I mean, I’m still in the very beginning of my hopefully long career.” It’s a brutally honest remark that undermines Dale Jr.’s public-facing fortitude in 2001. Regaining emotional ground was more important to him than racing when he returned to Daytona that July. And he accomplished it in a way that will never be forgotten.
Junior began in the middle of the pack and dominated the field in the 2001 Pepsi 400, the first race back at Daytona following his father’s passing. He took the lead with five laps remaining and didn’t turn around. To preserve the moment, his colleague Michael Waltrip blocked behind him. Fans erupted when the No. 8 Chevrolet took the checkered flag. Adult males wept. The wall was lined with pit personnel. It was a sense of closure. It was therapeutic.
Reflecting on it later, Dale Jr. said, “I kind of decided then and there that I wasn’t gonna hold anything against the track. And if anything, Daytona was maybe even more special because Dad passed away there.” His relationship with the sport—and with himself—was affected by that choice. Daytona took more than just one item from him. It also offered him a sense of calm, direction, and self-assurance to keep going.
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