"It has more to do with Teresa than anything" - $50M-worth Kelley Earnhardt reveals why she didn't work at DEI

Late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt's daughter Kelley Earnhardt Miller recently shed light on the reasons she never worked at her father's race team, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. The team was founded in 1980 and closed its operations in 2009.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt has left an impression on the racing world that transcends beyond the race track. An enigma in the motorsports world, Earnhardt's bold and intimidating aura, his accolades as a professional racer, and his undeniable craft both as a race car driver and a business owner made the late great North Carolina native a mythic figure in the sport's illustrious history.

One of Dale Earnhardt's brainchild and most successful creations was his now-defunct racing team, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. A team that once rose to prominence and found its way into the Cup Series back in 1998 ceased to function in 2009, merging with Chip Ganassi Racing.

However, in a recent revelation, Dale's daughter Kelley Earnhardt has shared the main reason why was she not involved in the operations of DEI. When asked by former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace if the reason for the aforementioned fact was Kelley being a part of the family, she revealed a different perspective, that involved her stepmother and Dale's third wife, Teresa.

Kelley Earnhardt, who is worth $50 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth), said:

"I think a little bit, but I think that it had more to do with Teresa than anything, to be quite honest. He could put me in arms-length businesses that made sense, and he did." (1:06)

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Kelley Earnhardt reflects on tough family life involving Dale and Teresa Earnhardt

The dynamics within the Earnhardt family were complex. Kelley and her brother Dale Earnhardt Jr. are the children of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and his second wife, Brenda Gee Jackson, daughter of renowned NASCAR car builder Robert Gee Jackson.

Their parents' marriage ended shortly after Dale Jr.'s birth, and Dale Sr. married Teresa Houston in 1982. Life with their stepmother was challenging for Kelley and Dale Jr.

In an episode of "Dale Jr. Download" five years ago, Kelley Earnhardt reflected on their difficult family life when speaking to his brother Dale Earnhardt Jr. She said:

"I'm sure we had our feelings then of how we failed and felt unloved or not. We just didn't have the right family unit, I'd say. But I don't think it bothered us as much in the end because we had such a good relationship. We had a good life, you know, when we had a roof over our heads and all that kind of thing. It's just that in the family with Dad and Teresa, it just wasn't very family loving, you know, situation." (5:46)