Santino Ferrucci reveals Dale Earnhardt Jr's priceless gesture that had him "freaking out"

IndyCar driver Santino Ferrucci recently opened up about getting to know Dale Earnhardt Jr. and shared the NASCAR Hall of Famer's sweet Christmas Day gesture that made his day.

Ferrucci has deep NASCAR links because of his connection with four-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, whom he met and hit it off with in 2011 during his time in McLaren's Young Driver program.

The AJ Foyt Racing IndyCar driver recently appeared on IndyCar and NASCAR insider Chase Holden's YouTube channel. In the exclusive interview, he spoke about being a fan of Earnhardt Jr., who has won six Xfinity Series championships as a team owner of JR Motorsports. Ferrucci spoke about his growing relationship with Dale Jr. through an anecdote.

"Getting to meet Dale the last couple of years, I'm not gonna lie, one of the coolest things to happen to me as a race car driver. It's normally like, Christmas comes around, we text all of our sponsors, our family, our friends, and stuff... occasionally a couple of drivers. Dale was the only driver to wish me Merry Christmas. I was like freaking out. That was the coolest thing that's ever happened," he said [7:00 onwards].

Earnhardt Jr. first took notice of Ferrucci during the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2019. It was the Connecticut native's debut at the "Greatest Spectacle of Racing". His bold move of taking his 200+ mph car over the grass to avoid a multi-car wreck in front of him and still making it through earned him a fan in the NASCAR great.

Ahead of the 2020 IndyCar season, Earnhardt Jr expressed his respect for Santino Ferrucci, saying via NBC Sports:

"I really like Santino Ferrucci. That kid is really fast, and I can’t wait to see what he does this season."

Eventually, Ferrucci matched his overall 2019 result that year to finish 13th in the standings.

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Santino Ferrucci not 'messing around' with 2025 championship claim

AUTO: AUG 27 INDYCAR Bommarito Automotive Group 500 - Source: Getty

Santino Ferrucci ended his 2024 IndyCar season on a high. He earned a pole position at the Grand Prix of Portland and two top five finishes in the subsequent double-header Milwaukee Mile weekend.

Barring a few outlier finishes, he was consistently in the Top 10 throughout the season. The No. 13 AJ Foyt Racing driver finished the season ninth in the standings, a career-best position. The team's consistency led him to claim that they could have a shot at the 2025 championship.

When Santino Ferrucci was asked about this stance at IndyCar's content days in mid-January, he said:

"When I said that, I think a lot of people laughed at me. You look at where we would have finished in oval points, and then how you look at how we did at the end of the year for the last leg of the season. I wasn't messing around when I said I think we can run for a championship."

Ferrucci claimed that AJ Foyt Racing's consistency could reward the team with the ultimate prize this year. He will line up alongside new teammate David Malukas for the season opener at St. Petersburg on March 2.