Kelley Earnhardt once reflected on her challenging childhood with Dale Jr. - "With Dad & Teresa it wasn't family loving situation"

Dale Jr. and his sister Kelly faced numerous challenges after their parents' divorce. During a 2019 episode of the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast, Kelly Earnhardt opened up about their upbringing, acknowledging they had a good life, yet noting their family environment lacked a traditional 'family loving situation'.

Dale Jr. and Kelly are the children of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and his second wife, Brenda Gee Jackson, who was the daughter of renowned NASCAR car builder Robert Gee Jackson. The marriage between Earnhardt and Gee ended shortly after Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s birth. Earnhardt Sr. then went on to marry his third wife, Teresa Houston, in 1982.

Initially, Dale Jr. and his sister Kelly lived with their mother, Brenda Jackson. However, after a fire destroyed Jackson’s house when the kids were eight and six years old, respectively, they moved in with their father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., while their mother relocated to Norfolk, Virginia to live with her own mother.

On the podcast, Kelly Earnhardt delved into how she and her brother supported each other through tough times at home. She reflected:

"You look back on it and I mean, I'm sure we had our feelings then of how we failed and felt unloved or not. Just didn't have the right family unit I would 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." [at 5:46]

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Kelly Earnhardt always wanted to protect Dale Jr.

On the podcast, the Earnhardt siblings shared that during his seventh grade, Dale Jr. was sent to military school, and just a few weeks later, Kelley joined him there in the middle of her ninth-grade year. Dale Jr. faced the threat of suspension after just one semester at a private Christian school.

He explained that his issues weren't due to being confrontational, mean, or outright disrespectful. Rather, his frequent school changes made him overly enthusiastic when he made new friends, leading to excessive talking and playful antics in class.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said:

"When I would go to these schools and we would have to lose, we would have to leave friends, go to schools, and make new friends. And when someone in that classroom became my friend or talked to me or showed me any interest, I couldn't help but over [...] excited about that or enjoy that interaction so much that I would often be caught talking in class or not listening to the teacher. [...] I might know, oh man, this person thinks I'm cool, and wants to be my friend, this is awesome." [at 4:39]

Kelley Earnhardt spoke about her protective instincts towards her brother:

"I was always looking out for him. It was always me and him. We spent so much time together. Between nannies and relatives and our parents often being away on weekends, we didn't have a normal family unit. It was just me and Dale. So I wanted to go with him, be with him, and protect him. I mean, he was a scrawny little thing. You should have seen him in our military school." [at 3:30]

Today, Dale Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt share ownership of an Xfinity team that has produced several Cup drivers, including Noah Gragson, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier, Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Tyler Reddick.