Dale Earnhardt Jr. was trouble for drivers who participated in the NASCAR (formerly Winston) Cup Series from 1975 to 2001. Competitors didn’t enjoy dealing with Dale Sr., who was perhaps one of the best drivers of his day. Reading through the history of NASCAR will reveal multiple occasions in which Dale Sr.’s daring driving style was criticized by his competitors. Dale Earnhardt’s daughter, Kelley Earnhardt, discussed why his father used to receive so much hate in an interview with The Thrive Show in 2020. According to Kelley, “he was a bit of a rough and tumble gas.” He was rough and kind of a rough Houser, and he would, you know, push people aside.
The likelihood of contact increases dramatically when 40 cars accelerate at peak speed in an attempt to achieve that one prized trip to the victory lane. Throughout his career, Dale Earnhardt Sr. irritated a number of fellow racers. “A lot of people or a lot of robberies back in that day, with drivers and Darrell Waltrip and, and some of those guys, Jeff (Gordon) where, you know, they would race each other really hard,” Kelley continued, recalling her father’s “intimidating” demeanor.
As an extremely imposing individual, my dad kind of caught it how you’ve seen it. And, so, sometimes it irritated folks,” Kelley continued. Currently, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his brother Kelley Earnhardt are carrying on the legacy of the “intimidator”. Not long ago, Dale Jr. took over the No. 8 from Dale Earnhardt Inc., a NASCAR Cup Series team founded by Dale Earnhardt back in 1998.
The NASCAR Cup Series bid is crossed off Kelley Earnhardt’s bucket list
The annual Daytona 500 will be run this year by JR Motorsports, a championship-winning NASCAR Xfinity team owned by Kelley Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. As a team owner, Kelley said it was a dream come true when JR Motorsports made the announcement in a montage on X (previously Twitter). She wrote, “Tick something off the bucket list.” Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and, most recently, Justin Allgaier have all contributed to JR Motorsports’ 88 victories and four titles in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
In this year’s crown jewel Daytona 500, Allgaier will be driving the No. 40 Chevy Camaro. This will be his first time running the event under the JR Motorsports banner, despite the fact that he has done it twice previously. However, neither Kelley Earnhardt nor his brother, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame, have mentioned running another Cup race after this one. Like every year since he retired in 2017, Dale Jr. will not be running the #88 this year.
