DEI's former crew Joey Meier recalls Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s "emotional rollercoaster" Dover win

Back in 2001, following a two-week break due to the tragic 9/11 attack, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s victory at Dover was loaded with emotions. That same year, Earnhardt Jr. had also mourned the loss of his father during the Daytona 500 race. Recently, Joey Meier, a former member of Dale Earnhardt Inc., spoke about how the crowd at Dover that year brought everyone together in a poignant display of unity.

Starting in third position, Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated the race, leading 193 of the 400 laps, to win his second race of the season following his win at Daytona. The triumph was marked as the third instance in 2001 where Earnhardt Jr. shouldered the emotional weight of the sport, following his father's passing at the Daytona 500 and his subsequent win at the Pepsi 400.

Reflecting on that day and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s victory, the former DEI crew chief offered his thoughts during an appearance on Dirty Mo Media:

"We went from 9/11 to an airplane rack to going back to Dover, so it was very, very emotional, roller coaster going up and down. But as Jeff mentioned, the intensity of that race, it's something you'll never, ever forget it. When you were there and the emotion, all the support that we had from every single person in the stands was undocumented. It's just amazing."

In the final moments of the MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 race at Dover, the white flag was absent during the final lap, symbolizing a steadfast refusal to surrender. In a tribute to the victims of the attack, Earnhardt performed a Polish victory lap while brandishing a large American flag. Furthermore, in Victory Lane, he also announced his commitment to donate $75,000 to the relief efforts.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently discussed NASCAR's tactics in weakening the unity of the RTA during charter negotiations

Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed surprise upon learning that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were the only teams that had not signed the latest draft of the charter agreement proposed by NASCAR, putting their charters at risk. To shed light on the issue, he offered a comprehensive explanation:

"They're not going to take away Michael Jordan's charters. There may be a little bit of disconnect between what NASCAR thought the charter system would be and what the teams think the charter system is. The charter system wasn't called a franchise for a reason. They weren't considered franchises." [at 59:30]

He also noted that while NASCAR initially considered the teams' input, they eventually reached a point where further negotiations ceased. He explained:

"NASCAR made it clear that they were done negotiating. Didn’t get everything we wanted, there were some things we like, some things we didn’t like, and I feel like that’s expected. That’s part of the process." [at 50:10]

Earnhardt Jr. believes that NASCAR's current stance with the teams is essentially "take it or leave it," indicating no further concessions would be made.