Dale Earnhardt Jr. briefly raced alongside his late father in NASCAR, and in his podcast, Dale Jr. recalled a moment on the track where he sought revenge on Dale Earnhardt Sr.
The incident occurred during the Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in 2000. Earnhardt Sr. turned Elliott Sadler’s car during the first lap of the race, and he wrecked his son in the process.
“We dropped the green flag, went down into turn one, Dad ran into the back of Elliott Sadler, turned him sideways, and he backed up the track into the front of my car and crashed us both,” Dale Jr. recalled on The Dale Jr. Download. “I was so pissed, and so dad came by later in the race. I got my (expletive) fixed, get back on the track.”
Earnhardt Sr. had reputation for his aggressive driving style. Often the famous driver would intimidate his competition, and Earnhardt Sr. applied the same approach to his son. Of course, it did not take long before Dale Jr. began to push back.
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Following Dale Jr.’s setback in the cup series, he returned to the race with intentions to seek revenge on his father. Later in the race, Dale Jr. drove alongside Earnhardt Sr. and purposely scraped the entire right side of his father’s car.
“Dad comes by, and I just turned right and dragged the right front tire all down the side of his car,” Dale Jr. remembered. “And [I] just was so mad. And he comes over the radio, and Tony [Eury] Jr.’s like, ‘Richard Childress said don’t be running into him no more, all right? If you know what’s good for you.’ So we had some rough days on the race track for sure.”
Watch the full story in the video below.