Joe Rogan - Dale Earnhardt Jr. on His Relationship with his Dad

um how much did you learn about racing from your dad hardly nothing man I mean we I will get asked all the time what your dad taught you about X Y & Z and we never talked about racing really never Wow yeah we never talk about reason Eve mind you started racing personally yeah Wow yeah we never did he was always don't you know finish he he was so worried that me and Kelly wouldn't finish school that we would give up on school he gave up on school as an 8th grader at 16 years old he was 16 in eighth grade and quit and never finished high school never got no GED nothing and people would come to him and say or people would talk about him even while he was alive and ever since and say look what this guy made of himself having quit the eighth grade that's awesome and he always hated that that was embarrassing for people to you know he was embarrassed that he quit he knowed how bad it disappointed his own father so he was always like worried about where I was who I was hanging out with whether I was you know doing my homework and then even when I started racing it was who I was hanging out with what I was doing with my free time what I was focusing on whether I was you know thinking about you know what I was whether I was on time for sponsor appearances and never this is how you drive this corner business I get around this racetrack he never talked about that stuff it was always the person I being a man being right being good to people being on time being ready to work looking your best general you know morals and values he didn't we never sit down and talked about racing like I'm true you had to get around this corner and this is how you shift and [ __ ] like that well in that respect it was probably brilliant of him cuz look the championships came and you all so turned out to be a great man no thanks I appreciate you saying that I I don't know I always felt like that when I was younger I kind of let my father down because there was this one time I was probably 12 years old and there was this me and my buddy we were gonna play man we're here we're outside we're gonna play outside my dad's standing over there and it was a bucket full of [ __ ] and he's like hey come here Pope jr. picked that bucket up move it over here and I went over there and tried to pick it up and I was like I can't lift it and he got so pissed off at me because he knew I didn't try and he said to my buddy Ryan he was Ryan come here pick the bucket up and take it over there and he turned around and gave me this look of pure frickin disappointment and I felt like that set the tone for our relationship Wow for one bucket I know I feel like that that was the that was our relationship in a nutshell for most of my teenage years you know he looked at me as you know I don't know what he'll amount to I don't know what this kid's gonna do I don't know what what you know what skills he has or was he ever get his act together whether he's ever gonna figure himself out you know and I probably didn't give him much reason to think different but then when we got when I started racing when I started racing to late models I ran 159 races and he never came to 1 through 94 95 96 97 I raced at Myrtle Beach South Carolina every weekend and he never once came down there to watch me and so he didn't know whether I was a good race car driver or a bad race car driver he didn't know whether I was you know working on my car or understanding how they you know what what how to build the car fix the car and when I would do good I'd come home and I'd have a trophy and I'd say hey man I want and he'd go well who wasn't there and I'm like [ __ ] he really did the first I remember coming home with a trophy and I couldn't wait till what he would walk I kept my car in this in this building that was his and he put all his deer head up there called a deer head shop I'm talking 35 40 mounts in this place a couple elk and he'd come in there every Monday morning before lunch and I had that trophy sitting up we'd brought it home and it was right in view soon as he walks in I got a car working on my car and he comes in there and I'm like yeah Mike he's like so you want huh he's a trophy I was like yeah we did and he's like such-and-such must not been there cuz there was this one guy wouldn't even Robert Powell used to beat us all the time and he goes Robert must not been there I was like no you wouldn't he wasn't there she right I was so pissed off man I finally won a damn race it thought that he was gonna come in there and slap me on the back and man we you know give me him give me a good talk it gives you more motivation that he didn't do that I I don't think so I don't think he did I think it made me want to it did not make me want to win more but then one day so right around the end of 1997 I was out of money he was like hey you know you're out of money you know race I was like [ __ ] my life's coming in as far as I know it you know I'm not gonna I guess my racing career this is it is it's coming to an end 1997 he was sitting down talking to he had a car that races in the Xfinity series that I told you about on Saturdays and his driver was leaving to go to a cup car and he was talking to his best friend Tony senior is the guy's name that actually crew chiefs that car he's like who were gonna get drivers thing who should we get we got a higher surge driver and Tony senior said why don't you put Dale junior near he goes what we serious you really think so he's like you gonna spend a little money on this car why don't you spend it on your own kid you know once you just put I can I can probably make a driver out of him Tony senior says so and so they made the decision to put me in this car in the Xfinity series you'd think that dad would come tell me or we would have press conference might be a press release at least I walked into this is a month before the race season starts I think I'm out over I think I'm out of racing right I ain't even talked to anybody about what I'm racing or if I'm racing in a couple months I think that it's dried up opportunities you're going I walk into the shop to get something where Tony and seniors car County seniors race car was and my name was on the roof and I was like I thought it was a joke like a meeting joke a prank and they were laughing Tony senior and some of the guys in the shop are laughing and I'm like man that's messed up man y'all are dicks for putting that name on there this ain't no funny in there and they were like it's true man I was like you mean I'm gonna race this car I'm racing this car and they were like yeah I was like really and I mean obviously I was thrilled like man I couldn't believe it but this is the way I found out not from my own bed and I'm like dad I'm racing the car yep I mean like days later when I seem I'm like so I'm gonna race that car yep yep sure better get ready that's it yeah and I mean it was he was the strangest dude but it can't he didn't he didn't really but once so I started racing that car and I had had great success we won six or seven races the first year we won another six or seven races the second year of championships in both seasons so I mean the choice to put me in that car worked out better than he probably ever imagined ever 159 late-model races that I ran from 94 to 97 I won for 159 late-model races I wasn't four so he put me in this car on a whim and a prayer and we ended up winning championship two in a row so he is thinking damn this little you know [ __ ] can drive a car and that's when our relationship completely changed that's when I his arm around me we were doing [ __ ] together we were we were doing we had sponsored deals and promotions together we were doing photo shoots together I saw him all the time and we talked about all kinds of you know we talked about life girls and and everything but racing you know we didn't talk about racing much but just fine but it was awesome and so 98 99 and then 2000 I went to Cup he built a cup team around me we had Budweiser come in for 10 million dollars a year which was a big sponsorship anybody had in it at that time and so and then he got killed in 2001 at the start of the season in Daytona 500 so those three years 98 99 2000 or as good as it can get Wow yeah that must have been amazing what's been amazing for you to turn that corner yeah it was like a light switch he went from he went from not really engaging with me me not comfortable around him feeling ashamed not me not measuring up he's because he's 10 foot tall cowboy boots black hat tougher and [ __ ] now you know Intimidator that was his nickname and I was blond pale short as hell not a muscle on me and had accomplished nothing you know right and so it but it overnight it was like completely changed we we started running great and people were coming up to me like dude you're freaking you're doing awesome and you know and he's and he was uh he was real happy with that he was pretty proud that's crazy that he'd never talk to you about race no that's just so strange him I can't imagine that was one it was only one time that he did that we were at a track called Bristol Tennessee we were to track in Bristol Tennessee it's a half mile high banked race track and we run 15 second laps around there it's really fast and it's it's kind of technical and tough to get around and I'd been race I'm out there practicing and I wasn't I wasn't doing it right and he got up on the he got up on one of the hollers and got on the radio and started talking to me and he was like hey man I'm gonna tell you how to drive it and so this one day one time in this one practice for about five minutes he's like I'm gonna tell you how to drive his track so I'm out there driving and I'm when I he's like I lift right here and I'd lift getting the gas okay turn there and he's just telling me how to drive the track and that was only time he ever did that just think of how much it would have improved you I know it really helped me there that day I mean it like his like when he told me how to do it I'm like holy [ __ ] this is way I would have never thought of doing it this way and this is way better right now so yeah maybe he could have given me a few more tips on some things come on man you mean that's that has to be so crazy because that's your profession yeah well your dad is a superhero well I think that you know I finally made it to cup and I think had he lived he would have been in my ear all those years the best decision today so maybe he just didn't wasn't in a hurry to do it cuz he didn't know that he wasn't gonna be around for it right yeah how hard was it to race after he was gone I thought about whether I should quit or not you know I probably if the if it hadn't paid a lot of money and I didn't have partners and people that were dependent on me or counting on me I probably could easily walk away from it but we had a great partner in Budweiser that was incredibly supportive I had a lucrative opportunity in front of me personally to be a be a racecar driver for as long as I wanted to which I wanted and I just had to go through missing him really bad for a few months you know I had to I had to go the race track and everywhere I looked you know there's dad there were no fans morning there were signs and paintings and things you know there was just markings and acknowledgments and just [ __ ] everywhere for like a year and I appreciated it I knew why I was like that but it took a while for me to sort of get to where I didn't I was I went there was a little period of me a period of time where I was real self-destructive and just like mad you know everything and you know took me a while to calm down and get to work you know for ferb for a while there it was just sort of going through the motions the you know I mean you must have always known I mean everyone knows there's dangers involved in racing cars but when it hits someone so close as your own father that had to change what racing felt like to you mm yeah I'm sure it I'm sure it would have completely been a different experience emotionally had that not happened had no racing for me would have meant something completely different you know I just was he was in he was this he was this invincible guy that you know wasn't supposed to get hurt wasn't supposed to I mean he was he was he was supposed to get hurt and drive hurt and be tough and he wasn't supposed to get killed and leave us all you know he left the whole sport you know and and no one knew what to do like that was like the whole sport wasn't they're going [ __ ] what do we do you know he was the guy for everyone and even in even the competitors you know looked up to him like he was the I like that that's the man and so it was tough on the whole sport too big giant Boyd for the whole sport but I you know we just huddled together me and my team in our company we raced for my dad's company so that whole company kind of just kind of held held itself together and everybody kind of pulled together and worked our way through it that first year no one just that year you know that he was killed now that was just a kind of a tough year I don't even really remember anything much about what happened that year won a couple races but it was uh otherwise you know the races where we didn't win I can't even I don't even remember much about him you know just retaining too much from it it was just kind of a daze you know oh four was a great year I think we kind of finally were coming out of the funk you know around 2004 it's kind of coming out of the cloud of that I would imagine that being a race car driver and having your dad be who he was always carried a lot of weight but did he carry more weight after he was gone with her more eyes on you yeah I thought so you know I thought he he was tough he knew who he was to the sport he knew he knew that you know he carried he carried a big massive fan base and he knew that people listened to when he spoke and all those things and so when he was gone I think some people some people kind of looked at me to try to carry that same load and even be that same person and I just wasn't going to do it I was like man I'm gonna be me I'm gonna be the prime you know like I said he was he's this ten foot tall black hat and I'm I'm this short scrawny pale kid you know I was I couldn't be who he was I'd have been faking it and I couldn't be the Intimidator you know so I just have always ever since then been me and if that's good if you'd like that great I think I've been relatable honest genuine and the fan base that I gained when when he passed away I thought we nurtured that and grew that and I think we did a lot of great things in and outside the sport to to do that so I'm kind of proud of all those things I thought I handled that well considering there are a lot of different avenues to go at that time and I think I chose some good ones and certainly probably could have made some different decisions and have regrets but for the most part I was able to you know add to his legacy a little bit that was something that was important to me I didn't go out there and win 90 damn races I didn't win seven championships but I didn't hurt his legacy I added to it made a lot of people happy there was an Earnhardt on the track you know that was good for a lot of people tell you got a great perspective Thanks

Channel: JRE Clips

Views: 1,376,545

Keywords: Joe Rogan, JRE, Joe Rogan Experience, JRE Clips, PowerfulJRE, Joe Rogan Fan Page, Joe Rogan Podcast, podcast, MMA, Joe Rogan MMA Show, UFC, comedy, comedian, stand up, funny, clip, favorite, best of, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Id: AgXI3eWGnkA

Length: 18min 40sec (1120 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 07 2018