Dale Earnhardt didn't watch son race for years and barely discussed NASCAR
Dale Earnhardt Sr. didn't watch his son, Dale Jr., race for many of his early years before he made his breakthrough in NASCAR.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has admitted that his legendary dad didn't watch him race for years, and the father-son duo barely spoke about motorsport. The Earnhardt name is NASCAR royalty. Earnhardt Sr. is the joint all-time Cup Series winner, with seven alongside Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty.
His son, Dale Jr., had an iconic career in his own right, with his Budweiser No. 8 forever cherished in the motorsport world and his two Xfinity Series titles in the 90s. The Earnhardt family changed forever in 2001, though, when Earnhardt Sr. tragically died following a crash at the Daytona 500.
His father's death further strained his relationship with his stepmother, Teresa, who, up until last year, had the trademark for the iconic No. 8 font. Earnhardt Jr. and his sister also claimed that they were unwelcome at their father's grave and could even be arrested if they visited.
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On his relationship with his father, Earnhardt Jr. has admitted that the NASCAR legend rarely watched him race as he made his way through the ranks. "I was running Late Models for four years never seeing him," Dale Jr. said at his news conference at Pocono Raceway.
"I don't think he ever saw me race Late Models in the mid-90s. Then we got in the Xfinity Series. I had two years of that and one year of Cup, and he was gone."
Dale Jr. also said that he and his father barely spoke about racing. They would talk about life and girlfriends, with Dale Jr. young at the time. "He was more worried about me keeping my head on straight, keeping focused, than how to get into the corner," he added.
"He was just making sure I wasn't going to be an idiot outside the car. We talked about that all the time — getting up all time and not sleeping until noon and being on time for appearances and all that."
Dale Jr. went into further detail during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Podcast. Their relationship forever changed when Dale Sr. saw his son's potential behind the wheel.
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"So he is thinking, 'Damn! This little ---- can drive a car!' And that's when our relationship completely changed," Earnhardt Jr. told Joe Rogan. "That's when [he] had his arm around me, we were doing ---- together, we had sponsor deals and promotions together. We were doing photo shoots together.
"I saw him all the time, and we talked about all kinds of [things]. We talked about life, girls, everything but racing. We didn't talk about racing much, which is fine. And it was awesome."
