Dale Earnhardt Jr took quite a while to come to terms with the loss of his father and legend, Dale Sr. However, many believe it was his wife, Amy Earnhardt, who helped him emerge from that long, shadowy period of ten years. Although Junior has made peace with the fact that his dad isn’t around to share in his triumphs and troubles, he makes it his objective to keep his father’s legacy close to his heart.

In his quest to keep his father’s memory alive, Dale Earnhardt Jr has been on a mission to gather memorabilia that his dad used during his NASCAR racing days. He’s not just talking about cars; he’s gotten more profound this time. It is about one of his prized possessions, the very first racing suit that his dad wore when he clinched his initial Cup victory in ’79 at Bristol. There’s even a fascinating tale behind that particular suit of Dale Earnhardt Sr, and the rich history Junior cherishes.

Dale Earnhardt Jr drew on his father’s first Cup-winning suit

Junior recently shared a personal anecdote about his father’s first Cup-winning suit on his podcast, chatting with Dalton Greco, Andrew Kurland, and Trock Hold, where he revealed, “I had his hanging in my house his driver’s suit from his first cup win in 79 in Bristol right? On the suit there’s this very faint ink marks, they actually took his suit.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr further went on to explain how they ended up sketching ideas for the next year’s suit right on the original. “And we were drawing like ideas for the next year’s suit. On the original suit. They’re still on there. So, a patch or two is missing, but you can see the sewing shape of the patch. I mean, I can, it’s easy to look at pictures and go yeah that’s that’s absolutely the suit he’s wearing in his first win but there’s a little faint ink marks. And then when you look at the next year’s suit, 1981, you can go, “Okay, they went with this idea, right?”

Because of these creative sessions on his ’79 suit, the suit in 1981 got a bit of a makeover. “And so, because he has this, on his 81 suit, he has these little blue pieces that they added to the lapels or whatever they call that. In the last year, somebody sold me the 81 suit.”

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But the suit isn’t the only piece of his dad’s racing history he’s holding onto. Back in 2019, Dale Earnhardt Jr didn’t hesitate to shell out $190k for one of his father’s old race cars. He’s weaving together pieces of his father’s legacy, one memory at a time.

Quite a detective moment for Junior with his dad’s old Chevrolet Nova

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In 2019, when Dale Earnhardt Jr stumbled upon his father’s vintage Chevrolet Nova, which his father raced in the Busch Grand National Series back in the 1980s, he was initially on the fence about whether it was the real deal. But later, he spotted these hammer-striking marks on the floorboard. It turns out they were from his dad’s handiwork, hammering away to lower the seats. Besides that, there was a photo from 1986 showing a young Dale Jr in the car, right next to a radio box bolted onto the driver’s side door.

Junior rolled up his sleeves and spent close to two years bringing the car back to its former glory. He had his eyes on the prize for the NASCAR Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway, set for May 7-9, 2023. On his podcast, he shared that the car started life as a Pontiac Ventura before getting a makeover into a Nova.

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Over the years, he kept tabs on the car as it did the rounds on the vintage racing circuit, even making appearances at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. After talking to his uncle, Robert Gee Jr, Dale Earnhardt Jr didn’t think twice about dropping around 200k dollars to bring this piece of his dad’s legacy back into the family fold, setting an example of a son’s love and regard for his legendary father.