“If I Could Go Back” – Hendrick Motorsports Legend Shares His Biggest NASCAR Remorse With Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr and Steve Letarte both had pretty remarkable careers in their own right. While Junior ended up in the Hall of Fame and most recently in NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list, Letarte too tasted a lot of success with Jeff Gordon and then with Earnhardt Jr.

All in all, Letarte won 15 races during his time with the two Hendrick Motorsports icons including a Daytona 500 with Junior in 2014.

But still, there was one racetrack he wanted to win at during his stint with Earnhardt Jr, that he simply couldn’t, something he recently called one of his career’s biggest regrets.

Steve Letarte on his regret with his tenure with Dale Earnhardt Jr

In a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Letarte opened up on his good fortune to win at several racetracks as a crew chief which he then segued into a question towards Earnhardt Jr, asking, “What’s the track I have won the most races?”

“I’m going to say, the most races, Pocono,” he replied, which Letarte confirmed, “Pocono, three at Pocono.”

This led to Junior’s co-host Mike Davis chiming in with, “I was going to say something different.”

“You were gonna guess what? Martinsville?” Letarte wondered.

“Talladega,” Davis replied.

“Talladega, so, I will say it, the one thing, I have very few regrets, Dale and  I had nice times together but the one thing if I could go back,  we never won at Talladega together,” the former crew chief admitted.

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Letarte once revealed how he and Junior clicked immediately

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In an interview with Jacksonville from 2012, Steve Letarte opened up on how he and Earnhardt Jr. quickly developed an understanding and chemistry together as driver-crew chief.

“We sat down kind of when the whole deal came together,” Letarte said. “He was completely on board, gave his opinion on things which were great.” 

This was followed by a day of testing at New Smyrna Speedway, the main aim of which was to not work on the product on the track, but the relationship off the track between them.

“From that day forward, we have been all steam ahead,” Letarte confessed.

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