“I was always the mother hen”: When Kelley Earnhardt spoke about taking charge of Dale Jr.’s business decisions

Kelley Earnhardt Miller is is the chief executive officer of JR Motorsports, the team she co-owns with her younger brother, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kelley once described herself as the "mother hen" to Dale Jr., as he was always the youngest in their family.

Especially during the early stages of his racing career, Dale Jr. turned to his sister for every need, and Kelley played a vital role in his career both as a support system and business manager. During a February 2003 interview with GoUpstate, Earnhardt spoke about her role in her brother's rise in NASCAR.

"Dale Jr. was always littler than everybody -- shy, got picked on a lot at school -- and I was always the caretaker for anything he needed. He borrowed lunch money from me. I did his chores when he wasn't in the mood to do them and would have gotten in trouble. I was always the mother hen," Kelley Earnhardt said.

Before Kelley became Dale Jr.'s manager, their father, Dale Sr. and his then wife Teresa Earnhardt, took care of all the business end of things. Dale Jr. did not show much of an interest or involvement in it, as Kelley also spoke about during the same interview.

"They told him what they were doing, but he didn't really care to sit there and understand it," Kelley said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won a record 15 straight NASCAR Most Popular Driver awards from 2003 to 2017. He won the esteemed Daytona 500 race in 2004 and 2014, and also won two Xfinity Series titles. Dale Jr. and Kelley now own the Xfinity Series team JR Motorsport that has enjoyed a lot of success in recent years.

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Kelley Earnhardt on whether she and Dale Jr. fight like siblings often do

Kelley Earnhardt was asked by former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace in June 2024 whether she and her brother Dale Earnhardt Jr. fight like other siblings often do.

She responded by saying that she and Dale Jr. have had more disagreements in the last 10-15 years than they ever did before, more so because they are both very involved in the business, that is their team JR Motorsport.

NASCAR Xfinity: Kelley and Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Source: Imagn

Kelley also said that she once hurt Dale Jr.'s feelings when she said to her brother that she had run the business for 25 years, and she could run it without him.

"I didn't mean that I didn't need him because he is the reason that I got to run the business," Kelley Earnhardt said.

Despite that, the two siblings maintain a very strong relationship and recently had another big achievement as JR Motorsport took part in its first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race.