How a Video Game Helped Dale Earnhardt Jr Coach Martin Truex Jr to a Win at Talladega

As it turns out, Dale Earnhardt Jr is quite the gamer and is particularly fond of NASCAR racing games. Even the likes of Martin Truex Jr and spotter TJ Majors liked NASCAR racing games. The one game that they all liked was NASCAR Racing 2003 Season (NR2003), which was released in February that year.

Being the last of the series that began in 1994, it was the most popular one among drivers and fans.

Martin Truex Jr even credited the game for helping improve his real-life driving. He said, “Probably one of the coolest things was we used to race at Talladega BR and someone had modified the track where you’d have to run up high against the wall. And the first time I raised the Busch car at Talladega, Dale came on the radio and he’s like, ‘Talladega BR,’ and I knew to go high.”

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“And we went to the front, and I ended up winning the race.”

Why was this so significant for Martin Truex Jr and Dale Earnhardt Jr?

This took place during an Xfinity Series race in 2004 at the Talladega Superspeedway. As it turned out, the ideal racing line was when the car was right up against the wall. Both Earnhardt and Truex Jr knew this line from racing virtually on NR2003, where the cars had an extra grip on the top lane in the game.

While driving on the real track, Dale Jr discovered that the same was true in real life. He passed on a message to his teammate Truex, who was his teammate, and this was his first visit to Talladega.

To the team’s delight, Truex Jr led a 1-2 finish for Chance 2 Motorsports with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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The best part about NR2003 is that nearly two decades later, there is still a dedicated community that plays the game.