Dale Earnhardt might have earned a reputation as NASCAR’s Intimidator, but off the racetrack, he was a completely different man. The only thing that mattered to the 7-time Cup Series champion besides racing was his family, and especially his mother. Recently, a heartwarming video surfaced online that gave fans a peek into Earnhardt’s soft side. The video, which featured the iconic racer’s close aide Joe Whitlock, depicted an old story of Dale Earnhardt’s surprising Christmas gift to his mother, Martha.

An emotional Christmas gift from Dale “The Intimidator” Earnhardt

“After he had won the Winston Cup crown, we came home. And he was driving a car, and I’m sitting in the passenger’s seat,” began Joe Whitlock. Having observed Dale Earnhardt’s rise to prominence since his initial days of racing in NASCAR, Whitlock eventually transitioned into the role of Earnhardt’s first business manager. Since then, he emerged as a confidant to The Intimidator and the close access that Whitlock had to the Earnhardt household made him privy to some great, never-heard-before stories like the one being talked about.

“He starts crying. He’s laughing and crying. That’s not a serious crying,” revealed Whitlock. “I ask, ‘What are you crying about?’ He says ‘You don’t understand. This will be the first Christmas of my life I’ve ever given my mother something that she doesn’t have to plug into the wall.‘ I guess he had been giving toasters and stuff like that. Then he bought her some diamond earrings.”

That particular gift is one that the late Martha Earnhardt held close to her heart. As the video progressed, the scene shifted to her, describing the importance of the diamond studs she’d received from her beloved son. “I still have my diamond earrings,” she recalled at the time.

“It was really a big surprise that he could even afford it, you know. But he was always springing something on you. I thought it just made him different and taught him how to get where he was.“

What’s particularly heart-wrenching about this story is that the holiday that brought her the greatest memory from her son is the exact day she passed away decades later, in 2021. As we solemnly remember the Earnhardt family matriarch exactly two years after her passing, here’s an interesting anecdote about her which will surely take you by surprise.

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Martha Earnhardt’s only ever racing stint at the Hickory Motor Speedway

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The Earnhardt ancestry has been synonymous with racing. Having produced some of the biggest names to grace American motorsports, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. often hog the limelight. However, not many people might know that Martha Earnhardt had competed in an all-women race once at the Hickory Speedway.

Martha described her one-time experience as an awkward affair where she crashed in a ‘powder-puff derby.’ Speaking about her inability to produce anything spectacular at the race due to her lack of acquaintance with racing, she said, “That was my one and only. It didn’t work. I just wasn’t meant to be a race-car driver.”

Maybe the race track wasn’t her forte, but she has helped shape the lives of some of the most loved NASCAR legends like The Intimidator and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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