February 18 is the 21st anniversary of the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt. To honor the late driver, NASCAR paid tribute to Dale Earnhardt Sr. by tweeting out, “Today, we remember Dale Earnhardt.” It was a classy gesture by NASCAR. Fans commented below and loved the message.
Earnhardt Sr. was one of the greatest racers in the sport. He competed in racing dating back from 1975 to 2001. In his 26 years of racing, Senior won 76 Winston Cup races in total. He also holds the special mark of being the only NASCAR driver to win a race in four different decades. Senior was consistent and dominant as a driver for years and years on the track. He had seven Winston Championships in total.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on His Dad
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had quite a career in racing himself. This year he made the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He followed in his father’s footsteps in racing. Earnhardt Jr. competed for almost two decades himself in the sport. He even won at Talladega four years in a row.
He opened up to Danica Patrick about his experience growing up. Junior told her a story about an early wreck in his career. He said, “It was the only car I had so we load up and we go home. I’m upset and I’m disappointed and I thought my career was over.” He continued, “I sit in my house and I’m sulking and like two, three hours later, Dad comes home. He bangs on the door and stomps in there in his cowboy boots and looks at me and goes, ‘what are you doing?’ I was like I wrecked and I figured I’m done.”
Dale Earndhardt Jr. Opens Up
However, that was not the case. Earnhardt Jr. shared the special time he had with his father and their breakthrough moment with one another. He told Patrick, “He was like, ‘the guys that are helping you on your car are some friends of mine and they’re over there at the shop cutting up your car and fixing it,” Junior said. “I was like, ‘really?’ and he was like, ‘yeah, why aren’t you over there? If you want to race again, you should be wanting to fix the car you just wrecked.’ Junior said they had an impactful two-hour conversation on those back steps. “That was the first time me and him had one of those talks.” Junior concluded, “That was the first time we sat down and I felt like, man he’s in my corner.”
It was a beautiful moment that Earnhardt Junior shared with Rogan. He reflected on it fondly on the show. Now, Earnhardt Jr. made the Hall of Fame. He did it. And folks are excited to see what’s next for Junior going forward. Whatever that may be fans, fans want to know.
