Years After His Father’s Sad Demise, Dale Earnhardt Jr Is Still in Awe of The Intimidators’ Unparalleled NASCAR Legacy

In the books of NASCAR history, few names resonate as powerfully as Dale Earnhardt Sr. With a legendary career spanning three decades, Dale Sr. earned the moniker “The Intimidator” for his unparalleled driving skills. Even now, two decades after the passing of the giant. His son, Dale Earnhardt Jr, remains in awe of his father’s remarkable career.

In a recent episode of his podcast, Dale Jr. Download, Dale Jr. spoke with his father’s old crew chief, Larry McReynolds. On the show, McReynolds shared an interesting story from the 1998 season that left Dale Earnhardt Jr in shock. Due to his success, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was quite close to some of NASCAR’s top officials. McReynolds highlighted one such incident during the 1998 Daytona 500 race, which showed just how close Dale Sr. was to them.

It shocked Dale Earnhardt Jr to know that NASCAR’s president spoke to his father mid-race

Dale Earnhardt has searched for a Daytona 500 win his entire career. However, the moment finally came in 1998, during his second season with crew chief Larry McReynolds. The duo had remained winless in their first season, despite finishing a decent 5th in the standings. During their chat, Larry opened up about what happened during the race in the final 20 laps when the drivers were running under caution with Dale Sr in the lead.

He said it was something Richard Childress had already warned him about before he signed as the crew chief for #3. “As you know, Dale and [NASCAR President] Bill France Jr. are really tight,” McReynolds told Dale Jr. “And Bill France Jr. has a radio, and every once in a while, it’s rare, he’ll talk to Dale on the radio under caution.”

“Holy Cow!!” said a surprised Dale Jr.

“All of a sudden, on the radio, I hear this voice, that says, ‘Hey Sunday Money, this is Captain Jack.’ I’m thinking – who the hell is Captain Jack?” McReynolds told Dale Jr. “Who is on our radio? And Richard (Childress) saw me, and he knew I was about to have me a come apart. Captain Jack is about to get cussed out. And Richard about tackled me, and he kept pointing (toward the press box). I went, ‘Oh, Captain Jack.’ He said, ‘Hey, Sunday Money, this is Captain Jack. Why don’t you go snag that big one today?'”

McReynolds told Dale Jr that of course his father knew who was on the radio. Dale went on to record his first and only Daytona 500 win that day.

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Dale Jr recently reflected on the 1979 NASCAR season and gave his opinion on why he thinks it was a crucial season for NASCAR’s future in America.

Dale Jr considers the 1979 season to be the most important season in the history of NASCAR

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While NASCAR is one of the most popular motorsports in America, it wasn’t always like that. Dale Jr recently opened up about how the 1979 season played an important role in popularizing the sport in the country. He pointed out a series of events that happened during the 1979 season that he considers to be crucial in the sport’s history.

The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first NASCAR race to be broadcasted on television. Accompanied by the snowstorm on the east coast that forced people to remain indoors became the reason why NASCAR became so popular.

“The 1979 NASCAR season was the most important season in NASCAR history,” says Dale Jr. “This snowstorm on the east coast that has everybody stuck in the house. The first flag-to-flag coverage of the Daytona 500 on a network television. You had what three channels? Every third house was on the street at least was on the Daytona 500.”

He further added, “They had 16 million or something people watch that race. It was just this perfect sort of scenario, all the dominoes set up perfectly and all fell perfectly.”

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What are your thoughts on Dale Sr having been so close and up tight with the NASCAR top officials? Let us know in the comments.