“It rubbed people the wrong way”: When Kelley Earnhardt revealed the aftermath of her father Dale Sr.’s “intimidating” aura

For drivers who competed in the NASCAR (then Winston) Cup Series between 1975 and 2001, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was trouble. Arguably one of the greatest drivers of his time, Dale Sr. wasn’t someone opponents loved to deal with while racing.

If someone browses through the annals of NASCAR history, they will spot several instances where Dale Sr.’s dare-devilish style of driving was called out by his rivals. In a 2020 interview with The Thrive Show, Kelley Earnhardt, the daughter of Dale Earnhardt, talked about why his dad used to get so much hate.

“He was kind of a rough and tumble gas,” Kelley said. “He would, you know, move people out of the way and rough and kind of was a rough Houser.”

When about 40 cars throttle at top speed to earn that one cherished ride to the victory lane, chances of contact go through the roof, with Dale Earnhardt Sr. rubbing several fellow racers the wrong way throughout his career. Reflecting on her father's 'intimidating' nature, Kelley added:

“A lot of people or a lot of robberies back in that day, with drivers and Darrell Waltrip and, and some of those guys, Jeff (Gordon) where, you know, they would race each other really hard. And my dad was a very intimidating person and kind of caught it like you’ve seen it. And, so it rubbed people the wrong way, um, at times,” Kelley added.

As of now, Kelley Earnhardt and his brother Dale Earnhardt Jr. are carrying on the legacy of the “intimidator”. Not long ago, Dale Jr. took over the No. 8 from Dale Earnhardt Inc., a NASCAR Cup Series team founded by Dale Earnhardt back in 1998.

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Kelley Earnhardt checks off NASCAR Cup Series bid from bucket list

This year, JR Motorsports, a championship-winning NASCAR Xfinity team that Kelley Earnhardt owns alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr., is going to run the annual Daytona 500. When JR Motorsports dropped the announcement on X (formerly Twitter) through a montage, Kelley remarked it was an item completed from her bucket list as a team owner.

“Check off an item from the bucket list,” she wrote.

JR Motorsports has been quite successful in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 88 wins and four championships delivered by Chase Elliott, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, and, most recently, Justin Allgaier.

Allgaier will pilot the No. 40 Chevy Camaro in this year’s running of the crown jewel Daytona 500. Although he has run the event twice before, this will be his first time under the banner of JR Motorsports.

But neither Kelley Earnhardt nor his Hall of Famer brother has said anything about doing any Cup race in the future besides this one. Dale Jr., too, will not run the #88 this year like every year since 2017, when he retired.