via Getty
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 4: Dale Earnhardt Sr. & Dale Earnhard, Jr. pose together at the raceway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Earhnardts and Andy Pilgram earned second in the GTS category during the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. (Photo by ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
via Getty
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 4: Dale Earnhardt Sr. & Dale Earnhard, Jr. pose together at the raceway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Earhnardts and Andy Pilgram earned second in the GTS category during the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. (Photo by ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
NASCAR and Hollywood have had a few trysts in the past, with a handful of racing movies. Of course, the cream of the crop is the Tom Cruise starrer, Days of Thunder, which is a cult classic. Even the likes of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby falls into the category of ‘it is so bad that it is actually good’. However, there is one movie that is unanimously reviled by everyone in the NASCAR community. That movie is none other than 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story.
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The late great Dale Earnhardt has become a legendary figure in NASCAR and motorsport circles. So he absolutely deserved to have a movie depicting his life and NASCAR career. However, this movie, produced by ESPN and directed by Russell Mulcahy, was not the way to go about it.
Fans react to the Dale Earnhardt movie
This movie starred Barry Pepper in the lead role, JK Simmons as Ralph Earnhardt, and Chad McCumbee as Dale Jr. The biggest criticism of the movie was regarding several historical inaccuracies. Additionally, there were a lot of creative licenses taken, and many felt that there was over-dramatization of Dale Sr’s life in the movie. Many fans had a field day pointing out the inconsistencies in the movie.
Gordon was in the flames scheme in 2001, not the rainbow scheme anymore. Skoal was also not in nascar anymore. Same with Remington I believe. Bill Elliott left his 94 car team to join Evernham in the 9 car. Bobby Labonte scheme is the scheme he used in 2003, not 2001.
— Dean Clavet (@Elparko56) November 25, 2022
Know what, is it perfect? Hell no. They could've add a lot of stuff. Bud Moore days. Friendship with Tim Richmond. Bump heads with Geoff Bodine. Created rivalry with Jeff Gordon for merchandising. But how many movies, other than the 2007 Dale documentary, have they done? Exactly.
— CRJ (@CJJohns37859982) November 25, 2022
So we should praise a historically inaccurate, lazy movie because noone else made another one? What a bum🥲
— Chris (@MountainBoy802) November 25, 2022
Think they were using scars from one of the racing schools (IDR if it was Hillenburgs or buck bakers). You'd think for an ESPN movie they'd at least pay to wrap the proper schemes, even if they had to keep the incorrect bodies
— Carl Roidwards (@roidwards) November 25, 2022
Right! Like I was so upset they skipped so much at the end of the movie. Like they didn’t show how Dale got DEI set up. Or hiring Michael for the 15 or Dale Jrs first win. I think they totally dropped the ball on that movie
— LaneMorgans (@lane_morgan5) November 25, 2022
Chief among them was the fact that Jeff Gordon drove the flames scheme in 2001, instead of the rainbow scheme. Similarly, the sponsor Skoal and Remington were no longer in NASCAR at the time of the 2001 Daytona 500. Bill Elliott had also left the #94 car to join the #9 car of Evernham. Also, the movie showed the wrong paint scheme and manufacturer for Bobby Labonte.
I liked it at first. But since the Earnhardt family has stated how inaccurate it was and all the lawsuits for copyright infringement that followed the movie, I’ve grown to hate it.
— Clay Harless (@charless55) November 25, 2022
That’s the wrong Taurus model and the completely wrong MANUFACTURER for Labonte
— Zane Taylor (@ZaneTaylor33) November 25, 2022
The scene where Dale Jr told him about Neil’s crash or him having nightmares about Talladega 96 always made me facepalm
— Brian Kenney (@kenneybrian55) November 25, 2022
I didn’t like 3 the Dale Earnhardt story, you know whoever made this movie should have did a little bit more research on Dale Earnhardt Sr instead of making a Hollywood type of script a very dramatic one.
— Turbo Joe (@JoeJr57) November 25, 2022
The 2001 Daytona 500, according to that Dale Sr movie God I hated it so much. The only good decision was casting JK Simmons as Ralph pic.twitter.com/xyRJQgK2wl
— Suddenly Sac (@wimmer33fan) November 25, 2022
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The movie caused anger among fans and the Earnhardt family
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People also pointed out that the movie glossed over several important flashpoints in Dale Earnhardt’s career. It ignored his friendship with Tim Richmond and rivalry with Geoff Bodine. Furthermore, the movie tried to use Dale Earnhardt-Jeff Gordon for merchandizing. The movie also skipped the establishment of Dale Earnhardt Inc and hiring Michael Waltrip in the #15 car. Crucially, it skipped Dale Earnhardt Jr’s first Cup Series win.
WATCH THIS STORY: “This Is After His Dad Was Gone” – Dale Earnhardt Jr’s ‘Brain Damage’ Confession Was Not Enough to Stop Joe Rogan for Vouching for NASCAR in 2020
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The movie was so bad and inaccurate that the Dale Earnhardt family was furious. Teresa Earnhardt and the Earnhardt family had not even approved of the script. Finally, Richard Childress sued ESPN for its use of the #3 logo, which was later settled out of court. The fact that Dale Earnhardt’s family did not like the movie should have been a massive red flag. In the end, this movie will go down in infamy.
