Dale Earnhardt wasn’t called ‘The Intimidator’ for no reason. And if there was one weekend where he displayed just why that nickname was perfect for him, it was the 2005 Bristol Night Race. It may have started with an agreement between Earnhardt and his rival, Rusty Wallace, but it ended with the two coming to blows.

1995 was the year of Jeff Gordon, and admittedly, Earnhardt and Wallace were “jealous” of the youngster who burst into the scene and started showing them up. So, going into Bristol, Dale Sr. approached Rusty and suggested they work together to defeat Gordon. Wallace thought his rival meant helping each other during the race, but ‘The Intimidator’? He wanted to take Gordon out. Did that happen? Not really, because Dale crashed into his rival, ruining Rusty’s race. What followed after the race?

Wallace threw a water bottle right at Earnhardt’s forehead, and the two started a brawl. That moment perfectly summed up what their rivalry was like. But here’s a twist: Did you know Earnhardt’s daughter, Kelley, used to work for Rusty Wallace? Yes, that’s right. While it may seem like kids and young drivers from big-name racing families have it easy in NASCAR, Dale Sr. didn’t really think that way. Instead of backing them in their professional careers, he wanted them to form their base and foundation so that they would be able to take care of themselves in the long run.

Well, it’s been more than two decades since Dale Sr. passed away, and in that time, both Jr. and Kelley have grown to be industry leaders with a considerable influence on the sport. Although Kelley has grown to be a successful team owner at JR Motorsports, she had to go through a steep learning phase early in her career. Working for Rusty Wallace was part of it. In a conversation with Angela Skinner on Skinner-Round Up, Kelley elaborated on this.

“We didn’t really get the opportunity to have to do anything or rest on our laurels, or our name, or anything else,” she revealed. “Dad always put us in arms-length situations; we were never working right underneath him. We went to the dealership and worked under people… I had accountability to people. It’s funny because I think back about those times and being in those shoes. I managed Rusty Wallace’s account, and I had to be in some very interesting meetings from time to time.” Angela was dumbstruck when she heard this, exclaiming, “I didn’t know you worked on Rusty’s account!”

It’s no secret that Rusty Wallace and Dale Sr. were arch-rivals on the racetrack, but despite that, Kelley Earnhardt gave her best working full-time for Actions Performance. She continued, “Rusty was funny because he was always comparing himself to my dad. Well, ‘You do this for Earnhardt, and you did this,’ and I would be in those meetings.” Being in such uncomfortable situations is what propelled Kelley’s growth in her professional career. This was because Dale Earnhardt kept his kids away from his influence, and this tactic did yield good results.

“We didn’t get away with anything: we had to get there on time and show up on time and do our work. So, we were just brought up that way, and I had to be accountable to people and I wanted people to think that I could do a good job and show them,” she added. This treatment wasn’t just restricted to Kelley; even her younger brother Dale Jr. had to work on his own to break through at the NASCAR level. There was a time when he was fired from his job at a dealership and was offered a job by his father to work on Kelley’s race car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley almost got into a fight with someone

Before Kelley had completed her graduation, she would race cars frequently at Hickory Motorsports and Myrtle Beach Speedway. Dale Jr., at the time, wasn’t prepared to race in NASCAR. Therefore, he was working at one of his father’s dealerships. But, he received his marching orders after being fired and was on a job hunt. He approached his father, and he offered him a new role, which was to assist his sister in building race cars.

“When I was fired from [my dad’s] dealership, I went to Dad and said, ‘I need a job.’ He said, ‘You work on your sister’s car, and I’ll pay you this.’ So I worked on Kelley’s car all week, and then on Wednesday night, I’d drive to Union County and work on my own,” Jr. told to ESPN. Well, he held this position for two years and even got into a fight after Kelley was wrecked at a race.

Describing Kelley’s passion for racing cars, Dale Jr. unraveled a story where they almost got into a fight with the driver who wrecked her sister in the race. “We took it to the track and somebody wrecked her and we both were about to beat the s— out of this dude with jack handles and whatever.  It was frustrating because you could see where she could have been a good race car driver and you just wanted to see her progress and get better.” 

Dale Jr. also added that Kelley was incredibly strong mentally and always wanted to win, saying, “She got pushed around a lot, and she didn’t take s— off anybody. I’ve got a lot of funny pictures of her with her face red as hell after a couple of incidents. She was so, so competitive and so damn upset if things weren’t going the way she thought they should.”

It’s fair to say that Kelley Earnhardt is perhaps the most powerful female personality in NASCAR. It’s hard to guess what height she would’ve achieved had she continued racing. But she certainly has aced her ownership role at JR Motorsports.