“Never Met Anyone Like Earnhardt” – 2x World Series Champion Once Ranked Dale Earnhardt Above Four American Presidents for His “Big Heart”

“Game recognizes game” is a phrase that has found currency only recently, finding its way into the book of sports metaphors only in the last few years. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen earlier. Dale Earnhardt and Ned Yost were excellent friends till the sad day the former died.

The legacy of Dale Earnhardt hardly needs an introduction. Earnhardt won 7 Cup Series Championships over the course of his career. The number could have been much higher if not for the genius of Jeff Gordon in certain years.

Regardless of that, he was a true dominator – his nickname; The Intimidator emanated from his on-track personality, and the never give up attitude he possessed. Undoubtedly, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, ever to race in NASCAR.

He had many fans across the country and not just from NASCAR. Among them was Ned Yost, the MLB legend with 2 World Series rings (one with the Atlanta Braves in 1995, and one with the Kansas City Royals in 2015).

A video montage of Yost narrates the story behind his friendship with Earnhardt. In the video, a clip shows how high in regard Yost held his friend. “I’ve met a lot of people in my career. I’ve met four Presidents, I’ve met a lot of movie stars, a lot of country singers… world-class comedians,” he said. 

Before adding, “But I’ve never met anybody like Dale Earnhardt. He was the ultimate competitor. He was the Intimidator. But his heart was as big as any room you could walk in.”

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Some might call it a statement laced with hyperbole, but for Yost, his friendship with Dale Sr. was really that special.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a connection with Yost too

Dale Sr and Yost became friends in the 1980s when they met on a hunting trip through their common friend, Jody Davis. That day out hunting together turned into a very close friendship before anyone knew it.

Not just the two men, but even their families were very close. Yost knew Dale Jr. since he was 8 years old. He saw Dale Jr. grow up from that young, wide-eyed boy who looked to emulate his father, turn into a NASCAR legend. Yost saw it all.

In 2017, when Dale Jr retired, Yost sent him a touching video message that showed the closeness between the two families. According to FTW, Yost said in the video, “I remember being with your dad driving around the farm in the winter of ’97, and he told me that he was going to put you in a Busch (now XFINITY Series) car full-time, and I asked him, ‘You think he’s ready for that?’ And Dale said, ‘You’re damn right he’s ready for that.’” 

He went on to add, “Of course, you proved him right. You won the championship in ’98 and again in ’99. It’s been a wonderful experience sitting back and watching you accomplish what you’ve accomplished, but what you’ve accomplished is kind of hindsight to what you’ve become to me.”

“You’ve become an outstanding person, you’ve become an outstanding man. It’s just been a fantastic career.” 

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From father to son – game recognized game.