"Didn't just win it, we kicked their a**" - Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s DEI crew shares driver's desire for 4th of July triumph after Dale Sr.'s death

A former DEI-Budweiser crew member this week recounted how the team rallied to win the 2001 Pepsi 400 following Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s death at the Daytona 500. Barry B. Hoover recalled how Dale Earnhardt Jr. triumphed in the Independence Day race.

In July 2001, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Pepsi 400 at the Daytona International Speedway in the Budweiser-sponsored #8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI). The victory paid homage to Earnhardt Sr., who died in February of that year at the same track after crashing on the last lap of the race.

With the return of the No. 8 Budweiser paint scheme, the DJD Reloaded podcast invited two crew members of the DEI-Budweiser team to reminisce about the good old days, on the latest episode.

One of the members, Barry Hoover, recalled Junior telling the team he wanted to win the Pepsi 400, a day after the driver's father passed away. Tony Eury Sr., the No. 8 crew chief, then told the crew members to start working on the car.

Hoover said,

“When Dale lost his life at Daytona, we all went to work that Monday, and Dale Jr. walked in, he said, ‘I wanna go back 4th of July like to win that race.' And Pops [Tony Eury Sr.] said, ‘We’re gonna start on a car right now.’ That car didn’t go to our fab shop. It was built right there in the #8 shop, hung the body on it,”

B. Hoover also shared how thrilled he was about the win, saying:

"And then if we didn’t go down 4th of July and kicked their a****... We didn’t just win it, we kicked their a****. I don’t think that car ever got passed on the track for 400 miles. Pops taught us, Tony Jr. too, you gotta love on ‘em [cars]. If you don’t, they won’t love you back. And that’s stuck in my brain. And that’s what we did and we went down there and stole on back from Daytona that it took away from us.”

The 2001 Pepsi 400 saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. secure his third win in the NASCAR Cup Series. He led 116 of the 160 laps to win the race ahead of DEI teammate Michael Waltrip.

---

Dale Earnhardt Jr. announces return of iconic Budweiser paint scheme for Late Model racing

Earlier this week, JR Motorsports announced the partnership with Budweiser, bringing back the iconic Bud King of Beers paint scheme seen on the driver’s No. 8 DEI Cup car. The livery is slated to return to the No. 8 Late Model Series car with Dale Earnhardt Jr. running behind the wheel.

Earnhardt Jr. expressed how special the reunion was, saying in a statement,

“It is an incredible opportunity for me to be able to reunite with Budweiser, and the No. 8. Budweiser and I had some great memories with that iconic scheme and number. We’ve always supported each other over the years. It’s going to be really special for me to be able to represent that brand on the racetrack again.”

The 50-year-old driver is set to debut the Budweiser-sponsored No. 8 car in the Late Model Stock Car Series at Florence Motor Speedway on November 23.