With a dad like Dale Earnhardt, their life was never really “normal,” and it certainly wasn’t easy…
Last year, Prime Video announced that their forthcoming four-part series called Earnhardt, which focuses on the life and legacy of the late, great Dale Earnhardt Sr., will be out this Memorial Day weekend on their streaming service. Featuring interviews from Dale’s friends, family, and obviously his son, Dale Jr., the documentary will also feature never-before-seen footage of Dale during his racing career from both his personal and professional life.
They’ve shared a few teasers and trailers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelley, have been doing tons of press to promote their new project, and of course have been talking extensively about their legendary father. During an appearance on the Barstool racing podcast, it was pointed out how much they went through as kids, because their parents got divorced when they were very young.
Dale Sr. was focused on making his career happen, and he didn’t have much of a relationship with his kids, who lived with their mom at the time. When Dale Jr. and Kelley were 8 and 10, their mom’s house caught on fire and they went to live with their dad, a man who they didn’t know very well at the time and had started making money racing.
He had a nice house on Lake Norman in Mooresville, North Carolina then, and Dale joked that his friend Mike Davis, who runs Dirty Mo Media, always asked how the two of them aren’t “more f****** up.” Jr. laughed and agreed, but he also explained how he always “knew” his parents would be gone one day, and even considering how tragically he lost his father during a race at Daytona International Speedway many years ago, he knew he had no choice but to keep going:
“Mike Davis, who runs Dirty Mo Media where I do all my podcast content, that’s what he says. He’s like, I don’t know how y’all aren’t more f****** up. Because we’ve gone through some s***. It’s tough. There’s been some tough things, but I’ve always been of this belief that, I knew this was all gonna happen, right?
I didn’t know when I was gonna lose my dad, but I knew it was gonna happen. I didn’t know when my mom might pass away, but I knew it was gonna happen. I mean, I don’t get to choose to experience it or not… and I’ve learned too, you get up the next morning, the day after dad died, you look out the window, people are going to work, people are doing their s***.
The world is still going, and you can sit here in the sideline as long as you want, but eventually, you gotta get back in the groove and get back in the rotation and make something happen, do something, right?”
It’s the sad truth about life, but I think Dale and Kelley have done an incredible job carrying on their father’s legacy, and I’m sure that helps with the grief aspect, even if only a little bit. Of course, nothing can replace their father, but being able to continue to talk about him and the giant he was is surely pretty fulfilling.
I can’t wait to watch this documentary, which promises to be a very in-depth look at both Dale the NASCAR driver and the man, with new stories and footage from his legendary, yet imperfect, life.
The documentary is being produced by Imagine Documentaries, NASCAR Studios, and Everyone Else, in association with Dirty Mo Media, which is Dale Jr’s media company. It will come out the same weekend as the Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend, and the race will be aired for the first time on Prime Video with Dale Earnhardt Jr. making his debut on that service during this race in the booth.
Here’s a look at the most recent trailer:
The post “The World Is Still Going” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says He Always Knew He Would Lose His Father & Learned How To Cope With It Fast first appeared on Whiskey Riff.