The late great Dale Earnhardt has been married three times in his lifetime. After a 3-year marriage to Latane Brown and five years with Brenda Gee, he finally married Teresa Houston. During that time, he fathered four children, including Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kerry Earnhardt. Kerry was the son of his first wife Latane, Dale and Kelley Earnhardt were the children of Gee, and Taylor Earnhardt was the daughter of Teresa.

However, it is safe to say that Teresa Earnhardt was not particularly beloved in the NASCAR community. She also did not have a particularly great relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr himself. That was a bit of a story in itself, but if her relationship with Dale Jr was strange, imagine her relationship with Dale Sr’s oldest.

Recently, on an episode of Dale Jr’s podcast, he invited his oldest sibling to speak on a number of topics. The general gist of the conversation encompassed Kerry’s early childhood with their father. Among other subjects, the conversation turned to their stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt. As it turned out, the first meeting between the oldest child and the second stepmother did not leave a good impression.

Kerry spoke to brother Dale Earnhardt Jr about the first encounter

Kerry told the Dale Jr Download, “I pull up in the driveway. You’re out in the front yard, playing with a couple of guys in football. Kelly wasn’t out there, it was just you and a couple of kids. I walked up and knocked on the door, and it wasn’t dad that answered, it was someone else. I said ‘Hello’ and she said ‘Hey’, slammed the door. Then dad, I heard him inside a little loud, and he comes to the door. He said, ‘Hey son! Sorry about that. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Didn’t know what was going on.’ It was Teresa. Everybody knows who it is. Kelly wouldn’t have slammed the door like that, I don’t think the housekeeper would have, either. Anyway, dad comes to the door, ‘Sorry about that. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Come on in!’ So I walked in and we went down the basement, sat and hung out, talked. We talked for a good while.”

There is a five-year difference between the two brothers, so Dale Jr must have been really young at the time. Kelley was the second oldest in the family, and Taylor likely hadn’t been born at the time. Fortunately, Dale Earnhardt was there to try to smooth things over and introduce his new wife. Sadly, it appeared that first impressions became last impressions.

After Dale Sr’s fatal accident, Teresa Earnhardt became staunchly protective of the Earnhardt name. Now, that, in itself, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it only became an issue when she tried to protect them from their own family. A few years ago, Kerry and his wife Rene partnered with Schumacher Homes to design and promote the “Earnhardt Collection.”

However, Teresa Earnhardt filed an appeal in federal court over a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to block it. She did not win the case, but that was just the beginning of the deterioration of their relationship.

Even Dale Jr was not immune to his stepmother’s possessive nature

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Back when Dale Earnhardt Jr was still racing in NASCAR, he spent several years at Dale Earnhardt Inc. Then, in 2008, he moved to Hendrick Motorsports, forming a star-studded team with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Many Dale Jr fans would have loved to see the driver pilot the iconic #8 car at Hendrick Motorsports. However, there was a massive obstacle in the way, and her name was Teresa Earnhardt.

Although DEI president Max Siegel tried his hardest, the matriarch would not be swayed to let go of the trademark. According to the former NASCAR driver, the #8 number was traditional for him because his father and grandfather used it. Even Kelley Earnhardt tried in vain to get the trademark from their stepmother.

It was only until this year that Teresa Earnhardt finally relented. The #8 logo’s trademark was up for renewal this year, but she surprisingly chose not to renew it. Now, the iconic number is back in Dale Jr’s hands, and many in the NASCAR community rejoiced.