A Decade Later, Daniel Ricciardo Paints Romantic Picture of His First Touchdown at the United States: “Damn…”

Over the years, Daniel Ricciardo has only grown more and more in love with the US. It all started during his childhood when he watched Dale Earnhardt Sr. race in NASCAR. However, he did not get the chance to visit the country for a very long time. But when he did, it was pretty much love at first sight. It has been 10 years since then and he recently narrated the story.

Daniel Ricciardo started visiting America only when he would visit the continent for the US GP and for the Canadian GP. Later, when COTA was added to the calendar in 2012, the visits became more frequent. Before Netflix made him famous through the docu-series F1: Drive to Survive, Daniel would roam around the country going unnoticed.

Speaking with Red Bull recently, Daniel recalled, “It really tests my memory, but I do think the first time I came to the States was in 2012.” He continued, “My first thought was, ‘Damn, what have I been missing all these years.’”

Talking about his decision to buy a house in LA, he recalled, “I first went to L.A. in 2014, and the more I went, the more I enjoyed it.”

“I’d rented a few houses there during [Formula 1’s] August break; my friends from Australia would come over for a few weeks, and over a few years I found my love for the place was growing rather than diminishing, so I bought a place.”

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Even when he signed the deal with McLaren, CEO Zak Brown knew exactly what to get him going. Zak gifted Ricciardo a miniature of Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo. He also promised him a ride in the actual car when he would win his first race for the team.

Daniel Ricciardo tells how much he reveres Dale Earnhardt

A ride in the former NASCAR champion’s car was enough to motivate the Australian. However, keeping with his podium tradition, Daniel dared Zak to do a ‘shoey’ with him on his first victory. Zak kept both his promises and honored the bet. After Daniel’s Italian GP win in 2021, Zak drank the winning champagne from Ricciardo’s shoe and gave him his Chevvy Monte Carlo to take for a spin around the COTA.

Speaking about his love for Earnhardt ahead of the Brazilian GP, the Honey Badger said, “I was a massive Earnhardt fan. When we could pick our numbers in F1, I mean ‘3’ was close to me but it was also like a tip of the hat to Earnhardt.”

“His nickname was ‘the Intimidator’. That’s one of the coolest nicknames you can be given, especially in the world of motorsports.”

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The US government should just grant Ricciardo honorary citizenship. Much like what the Brazilian government did for Lewis Hamilton.