Inside $300M-icon Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s race day routine from meal selection to pre-event rituals

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is undoubtedly one of the best drivers to have competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. During a candid conversation with Kelly Senyei, the Hall of Famer shared his race day routine.

Worth about $300M (as reported by Celebrity Net Worth), Earnhardt Jr. spoke on topics ranging from NASCAR racing to diet and fitness on the recent episode of 'Sports & Forks' podcast.

During the height of his career, Dale Earnhardt Jr. preferred simple food such as turkey deli meat with mustard and sandwich bread. He also chose grilled chicken when he needed more energy. While it may sound scientific, Earnhardt Jr. confirmed there was no factual evidence to support his meal selection.

Speaking to Senyei, Earnhardt Jr. described what he preferred carrying in the race car during races:

"There were two things that you might have in the car with you while you're racing and then that's a drink. You're gonna have a bottle or some kind of a bag and that's going to have, you know, it's preference, whatever you want. I was always like water or I might split water and Gatorade." (5:30 onwards)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. further elaborated on how some drivers would keep snacks handy in small pockets on the doors. However, for him, it was all about the focus on the race from start to finish:

"The races are going to last for three to four hours and so you know you're focusing and concentrating and I'll be honest with you like there are lots of races, probably 95% of the races that I ran I would even forget that I had had water in there. and I would forget to drink or just I would go the whole race and not have drank any of the water or the Gatorade in the car." (6:14 onwards)

Take a look at the video:

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares his opinion about how simulator racing helps in developing skills

As the conversation progressed, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelly Senyei discussed about the benefits of simulator racing.

Earnhardt Jr. supported the choice of young and upcoming drivers to hone their skills in the virtual world to make more impact in real life. The Hall of Famer spoke about how he kept spending time on racing games on the computer in the 1990s and how many people didn't consider it as a tool for mental training.

"It's it's come full circle where racing on a simulator is now a tool and now a way to prepare. F1's drivers have used this probably before anyone else trusting a simulator and trusting in that software, to try to have it an advantage for the upcoming race weekend," he said. (12:41 onwards)

Senyei also spoke about the movie 'Gran Turismo', and how she could relate to what Earnhardt Jr. said about simulator racing.