“Maybe We’ll Go Run Le Mans” – Dale Earnhardt Had Plans To Compete In Iconic Race After NASCAR

Recently, NASCAR commentator Mike Joy made an appearance on the Dale Jr Download. He spoke about one of the last conversations he had with the late great Dale Earnhardt. To be exact, the conversation pertained to Dale Sr’s future in NASCAR and what lay beyond for him.

Having been in the sport for a long time, amassing 7 Cup titles, it was obvious that he would have been thinking about what’s next.

Joy said, “It was Wednesday of Speed Week in 2001, and he, Larry [McReynolds] and I were walking down pit road. We started talking to him (Dale Sr.) and all he wanted to talk about was how much fun he had had in the Rolex 24 Hours, racing with you.”

“It was – we weren’t talking to Dale the race driver, were talking to Dale the dad who had just had the most fun week ever.”

“He said, ‘You know, when I get done with this NASCAR stuff, maybe we’ll go run Le Mans. We’ll do some more of this, we’ll go road racing’.”

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“It was the most animated, loose and fun that I’d seen him in the last three years.”

What else did Mike Joy say about Dale Earnhardt?

Joy confessed that when he heard that, he figured that the 2001 season would be a great year. Even Dale Jr admitted that his father expressed a desire to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sadly, everyone knows all too well what transpired that year, and Dale Sr. never realized his dream.

Now, several years down the line, Hendrick Motorsports is planning to field a Next Gen car in the iconic race. When this ambitious project eventually takes off, who knows, maybe Dale Jr. will get a chance to compete.

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After all, he does have some experience in the endurance racing arena with the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.