Racing runs deep in the veins of the Earnhardt family. It is no secret how they have given some fabulous drivers to NASCAR over the years. That being said, Jeffrey Earnhardt, the nephew of two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr, hasn’t found it that easy.

Alpha Prime Racing announced Jeffrey as one of their full-time drivers last December for the 2023 Xfinity Series season. This is the first time Jeffrey is involved as a full-time racer since 2014 when he was associated with JD Motorsports. He recently appeared in Dale Jr‘s podcast “The Dale Jr Download.” The 33-year-old explained how an off-NASCAR activity helped him become mentally strong.

Dale Earnhardt Jr takes a walk down his nephew’s past

Few know that Jeffrey once took part in the MMA in 2012. In fact, he won on his debut, defeating Chris Faison through a unanimous decision.

Speaking about his experience, he said, “Even going back to the MMA fight, how hard will you work as something to be successful? And you know that was a little more extreme but that was probably one of the biggest character builders that I have had in my life.”

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When asked how different it would have been had he not gone ahead with it, Jeffrey said, “I tell people all the time like the discipline aspect of that. The fact that I have never gotten into fights in school. I wrestle but I never got into fights and stuff other than me and Bobby [Earnhardt] fighting, that’s about it.”

Jeffrey added, “But to go in there, not a fighter, and do something like that, that I just did, it wasn’t me—and be successful at it was huge character building in me. This is how hard we gotta work to be successful.” What he shared next was even more inspirational.

Jeffrey shares the impact of MMA on his life

The Alpha Prime Racing driver deep-dived into how the MMA experience helped him in his personal life. He said, “I mean I woke up the next morning. I was like, ‘Man, I did an MMA fight last night.’ I was in disbelief. It was great exposure yeah.

“I did something one-off. It was a bucket list checked off. But also, I just did something that I had no clue about, busting my b*** for two months, training four hours a day, seven days a week for this fight, and won.

“I was like this is it, this proves if you want it you go and get it. That’s kind of how I looked at my racing career getting knocked down we have been knocked down plenty of times but we always get up and we keep fighting.”

Jeffrey expressed his tough mentality, saying, “I always have a huge passion to race. I love it and it’s an addiction you are hooked to. That adrenaline rush of just going out there and being competitive. If you want it bad enough, you’ll figure it out.

“I felt like that for anything in life, if you want it bad enough there’re ways to figure it out, you kinda just gotta do it.”

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It will be interesting to see how Jeffrey performs in the Xfinity Series this season. And having his uncle around will surely benefit him.