“I was jealous of your success” - When Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted to being envious of Matt Kenseth’s ‘classic’ racecraft 

Dale Earnhardt Jr., in conversation with Matt Kenseth, admitted to the Hall of Famer that he felt jealous of how Kenseth had become successful, giving credit to his skills as a driver. Earnhardt Jr. further went on to describe his former opponent's style as something that he was able to appreciate as a fellow driver.

The former Hendricks Motorsports driver went on to compare Kenseth's racing to that of earlier NASCAR drivers. Earnhardt Jr. also stressed on the fact that having good racecraft at the time that him & Kenseth raced was an important part of being successful.

In their conversation on his podcast Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt said:

“I was [...] jealous of your success but I also felt like that your success and your style - I envied it, I admired it. I thought that the way you drove race cars, the way you approached your job, [...] I appreciated it a lot because it was really classic.” [2:05 - 2:32]

He also added:

"It reminded me of like David Pearson and some of the older guys that [...] really knew how to drive a race car and had such great racecraft." [2:35 - 2:42]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. & Matt Kenseth both joined the NASCAR Cup Series in the year 2000, driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. & Roush Fenway Racing, respectively. Kenseth did go on to win Rookie of the Year that season, another element of his success that Earnhardt admitted to being jealous about. Three years later, Kenseth also went on to win a NASCAR Cup Championship, something that Earnhardt didn't achieve during his tenure in the sport. The podcast host said:

"I was envious of you winning the Rookie of the Year title and then I was envious of you winning the championship." [1:14 - 1:20]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on to finish his career in 2017 with 26 wins & Matt Kenseth retired more recently in 2020 with 39 wins during his career.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. reminisces about a moment with his dad

The Earnhardts race side-by-side - Source: Imagn

In the same conversation with Matt Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr. also took a moment to talk about a moment he shared with his dad during the 2001 season at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He describes a memory with him & his father, Dale Earnhardt who is a NASCAR Hall of Famer and was a 7-time NASCAR Cup Championship winner.

Earnhardt Jr. said:

"I had a very fond memory where I sat with Dad on (the) pit wall just hanging, talking [...] and I'm sitting there going ‘I cannot believe where I'm at right now, sitting with my dad [...] and it was incredible.'” [8:27 - 8:55]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced against his father for two years until the senior Earnhardt's accident at the 2001 Daytona 500.