“Nobody Was Supposed to Heal That Fast” – The Intimidator’s Darlington Miracle Revealed as Dale Earnhardt Jr Tells the Tale of Broken Collarbones

The Intimidator Dale Earnhardt Sr has one of the greatest legacies in the world of motorsport and for good reason. He was also one of the toughest there was at a time when safety in motorsport was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. So naturally, Earnhardt Sr suffered a lot of crashes, but more often than not, he came back stronger and back at his best.

In a video uploaded by the X (formerly Twitter) handle of Dirty Mo Media, The Intimidator’s children, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kelley Earnhardt Miller went through one of his exemplary stories of toughness and grit. 

“Only Him” – Kelley Earnhardt Miller in Awe of Her Superhuman Father

The seven-time Cup Series winner used to write a column in the newspaper during his time as a racer and this one time, he had shared his experience simply willing himself into healing not one, but two broken collar bones.

The story begins more than 40 years ago in 1979, Dale Earnhardt Sr’s full-time debut season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Back then, it was called the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. That year, The Intimidator was caught up in a nasty crash at Pocono, which resulted in him breaking both his collarbones.

Now, even a single collarbone fracture can put a person on the sidelines for weeks, but not everyone is Dale Earnhardt Sr.

According to the newspaper column that he had written, which was being read out by his son Dale Earnhardt Jr, The Intimidator only required a few weeks before both his fractures healed completely. The reason wasn’t medicine or some special form of therapy. It was sheer will to drive.

“It wasn’t any special miracle drug that helped me get over my injuries from the Pocono wreck. I wanted to get back in that race car so bad, I must have just psyched myself back to being healthy,” Earnhardt Jr. read from one of his father’s articles.

His sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, was in disbelief as she laughed and quipped, “Only him. Only he could psych himself back to being healthy.”

Earnhardt Jr continued, “So he broke two collarbones, right? And he’s been out for a while but the doctors couldn’t believe it, he says ‘My regular appointment wasn’t until Thursday after the Southern 500, but I called my doctor and we moved it up to Tuesday, the day after the race in Darlington. He told me nobody was supposed to heal that fast. He said everything was fine, but I might have some stamina problems in the first few races. He said he didn’t know what I’d been doing, but it must have been right’.”

The mental strength to drive a NASCAR race in the 70s, when safety was not nearly as good as it is today, with both collar bones supposedly broken, is exemplary.

The great Dale Earnhardt Sr eventually lost his life in one of the worst crashes in NASCAR history at Daytona in 2001. Junior was already a Cup Series racer by then and was ahead of his father on the track that day. It was one of the most tragic moments of his life.

The 48-year-old was back at Daytona as a broadcaster last Saturday for the final regular season race of the 2023 campaign. It was here that he witnessed an eerily similar crash, which caused him to flinch, as many believe it brought back those painful memories.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr Relives Painful Memory at Daytona

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In the second stage of the race, Ryan Blaney was tagged from behind by Ty Gibbs and he smashed into the barriers, wrecking the front of his car completely. Thankfully, the Team Penske driver was okay, but the crash was very similar to the one that turned fatal for The Intimidator 22 years ago.

Earnhardt Jr and Jeff Burton were on commentary duties calling the race, but the moment Blaney’s crash unfolded, Junior flinched and was silent for quite a while, as was his commentary partner.

The Intimidator’s death was a dark day in the world of motorsport, and more so for his family. And even after so many years, people haven’t forgotten his contribution to the sport and the brilliance of his craft. 

One can rest assured that no matter how much time flies by, the story of Dale Earnhardt Jr will be passed down for generations to come.

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