The perfect recipe for a successful NASCAR driver would imply a balance between talent, hard work, fitness, and mental strength. However, one more aspect that arises with growth in the sport is expectations. NASCAR fans’ passion is unmatched. Having witnessed some of motorsports’ most iconic racers through the years, their expectations for the next generation have skyrocketed. One such driver who has experienced this pressure is Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Inheriting the reins from NASCAR’s superstar and his late father, Dale Earnhardt, Junior has often faced a mountain of anticipation. The two-time Xfinity Series champion reveals the untold story of his methods of battling it as he joins Kenny Wallace on the latest episode of his talk show, The Kenny Conversation.

Kenny Wallace draws similarities between him and Dale Earnhardt Jr

When Dale Earnhardt gave Kenny Wallace his first-ever start in September 1988, he showed much promise in the No. 8 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. He claimed a Rookie of the Year award in the following season, which sparked the beginning of comparisons with his brother, Rusty Wallace. Rusty is a NASCAR legend and the 1989 Cup Series champion. With the reputation of a champion as the expectation, life can be challenging, as it was for Kenny. Sharing his feelings on the talk show, he said,

“You [Junior] and I share something in common. Your dad was the man. My brother was the man. Rusty could never understand why I was not him, and I would read, years passed, 20 years ago, people were like Dale Jr is not his dad. I’m thinking myself that I never wanted to be my brother. I just wanted to do what Rusty did. I wanted to do what my dad did.“

Dale Earnhardt Jr has faced similar struggles and probably since the beginning of his career. As they say, comparison is the killer of joy. Having to perform on his father’s level was something on a different grandstand for Junior. Becoming the next face of NASCAR was a daunting task and one that would need years of making.

Revealing his side of the struggles, Junior said, “I just wanted to do good. I always felt like I was falling short of expectations. Even if no one ever said anything, my expectation was my father, his success. It wasn’t that people were coming up to me and saying, man, you are not winning, and you are not doing this enough.”

Read More: Dale Earnhardt Jr Reveals How Bubba Wallace Proved Him Wrong This Year

Despite that, a large part of the NASCAR fandom has always been in love with Dale Earnhardt Jr. His 15 consecutive Most Popular Driver of the Year awards from 2002–2017 speak volumes about it.

Junior remained unphased by the gossip

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Dale Earnhardt Jr shared a special bond with his father—a connection between a father and a mentor, and from one racecar driver to another. However, Dale Sr‘s seven Cup Series championships and his larger-than-life image often became a reason for people to ridicule Junior. Instead of paying attention to the unwanted noise, Junior focused on honing his craft. But in the back of his mind, he has always had the same expectations for himself.

“I mean, I heard the talk out there,” claimed Dale Jr. “He’s never going to be his daddy, riding off the coattails’, all those things, but none of that really bothered me that bad. To be honest with you, all of the talk and all of the noise outside that might be negative never really bothered me. I expected to be a champion. I expected to be a winner.”

Junior retired in 2017 with many accolades, race wins, and an even larger number of fans. Even after his retirement, he has contributed to the sport and has arguably been one of NASCAR’s biggest benefactors. Dale Jr has been a phenomenon, from renovating tracks to running an Xfinity team. Adding to the conversation, he said,

“People might think that I felt a lot of pressure from the outside about my last name, the NASCAR fandom having high expectations from me, I had even higher expectations from myself.”

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Regardless of how things have turned out, the fans have loved the Earnhardt family for a long time. As for Dale Earnhardt Jr, there has been a stark difference in life before and after his father. With the burden of expectations remaining on his shoulders forever, he seems to have made peace with it.