Dale Jr Touched by How Country Music Laid the Path for Former Amish’s Foray Into NASCAR

The NASCAR community has produced inspiring stories of growth countless times. Drivers have worked their way through dire straits just to get behind the wheel of a Cup car and fire their engines to glory. Similarly, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s recent interaction with a Hendrick mechanic revealed a riveting story of sacrifice and rebirth.

Marlin Yoder hails from the Amish community, which is known for isolation from mainstream society. However, Yoder broke those social chains to reach NASCAR’s race tracks. His first touch with racing gave him fuel to reach for the checkered flags.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is moved as music was Yoder’s savior

Marlin Yoder was quick to weave his success in NASCAR. He got a job as a front-end mechanic in Hendrick Motorsports in 2018 and helped the no. 5 team clinch the championship in 2021. Presently, Marlin Yoder works with the Hendrick Performance Track Attack Program. This is an initiative where the team offers track-ready road course cars for sale to the public.

He recalled the time he was part of that public but from a religious Amish community in Wisconsin. Sitting down with Dale Earnhardt Jr on The Dale Jr Download, Yoder recollected how his journey began. “It started with, I wanted to see what was out there. And I didn’t have any way to know what’s outside the life I had…The first trigger of that was just to listen to music, ’cause we weren’t allowed to…country. Toby Keith, Alan Jackson.”

Then Yoder mesmerized Dale Earnhardt Jr with his NASCAR discovery, as he continued, “We lived kind of down in a hill, so it was the only station (country music) that we would get. Then that’s how I started listening to the NASCAR races on Sunday afternoons. And I would do that…all of a sudden I’m hearing this crazy stuff on the radio.” 

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s love for music spilled out as he gave his heartfelt response. “When I try to put myself in your situation, I don’t know if I would’ve been interested to listen to a NASCAR race when the music…Music is so incredible, right? Just hearing something like that for the very first time, I would be like, ‘What else is out there music-wise?’ Might’ve tried tuning into a sporting event, maybe something more traditional, football or baseball. Something more Americana, right? Not that NASCAR isn’t.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr confessed motorsports would not be his first option. But Yoder’s growing love for racing back then propelled him from radio stories to the real thing.

Marlin Yoder was struck by one NASCAR peculiarity

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Yoder’s NASCAR journey began with radio and country music, as he tuned into a small AM/FM radio his friend had bought him. Yoder had no clue about racing but fancied the MRN and PRN guys weaving interesting narratives about on-track incidents. 

But when Marlin Yoder finally reached the race track, he was amazed. At the Atlanta Cup race in 2008, he was particularly struck by one thing. He told Jeff Gluck in an interview in 2018, “I still remember seeing my very first pit stop, and I asked my buddy, “Why are they putting worn-out tires back on the race car?” I had never seen racing slicks. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a racing slick. So when I saw them put racing slicks back on the tire, I couldn’t understand why because I’d always seen treaded tires.”

Now Marlin Yoder is an expert in racing. Despite his humble background as revealed in Dale Earnhardt’s podcast, Yoder is part of the winningest NASCAR Cup team.