"I'm not gonna apologize" - When Dale Jr. stood firm on regularly discussing Dale Earnhardt on his show

Retired Cup Series star Dale Earnhardt Jr. often talks about his late father, Dale Earnhardt, on his podcast "The Dale Jr. Download." Sometimes, the 50-year-old has a guest on to share old stories about his father and other times the North Carolina native will share some of his own.

In September of 2023, the 50-year-old had professional bass fisherman Hank Parker Sr. on the show. Parker was a longtime friend of Earnhardt Jr.'s father and recounted a moment when the latter expressed how he didn't know how to love his son like he did. Parker went on to say:

"I said, 'Well, we're different Dale. We're different. You love him [Earnhardt Jr.] just as much as I love Hank Jr., you just don't know how to express it.'" (1:31 onwards)

In the following episode of the podcast, Earnhardt Jr. reflected on how monumental of a moment it was for him to hear that story from Parker. The 26-time Cup Series winner expressed how it means a lot to him to talk about his dad on his show and stood firm that he feels no regrets about the frequency of it.

"I'm not gonna apologize for all of the Dale Earnhardt conversations that we have. I'm not going to apologize for "Becoming Earnhardt" or whatever we do in the future with that or all the guests that we have come in here that talk about dad. That's important to me. I get a ton from it. I think our listeners enjoy it. I know that we go heavy on the Earnhardt stuff. I know we do. Sometimes, it's heavy for me. Sometimes it's just a little bit too much for me," he said.

"Becoming Earnhardt" was a podcast docuseries that Earnhardt Jr. hosted last season that took listeners through the 1979 Cup Series season, his father's rookie year on the circuit.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently announced the return of the famed Budweiser #8 car

In select late model stock car races in 2024 and 2025, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will pilot a #8 Budweiser car. The number-sponsor combination is a throwback to his early days of his Cup Series career when he drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc. from 2000-2007, a team started by his late father.

The first of these select races will take place on November 23 at the Florence Motor Speedway. Earnhardt posted a montage video of old highlights of his days in the Budweiser #8 to share the news with his followers about the return of the iconic car. He wrote:

"This Bud’s for you… See you at Florence."

Since retiring from full-time Cup Series racing in 2017, Earnhardt has made annual appearances in the Xfinity Series. This year, he placed seventh in the circuit's September Bristol race.