“My dad always pulled against my favorite NFL team”: When Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded to fan supporting him over Tony Stewart in Daytona 2004

Dale Earnhardt Sr., one of the biggest stars in NASCAR, was a devoted follower of the NFL, and so was his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, the legendary “intimidator” somehow always ended up supporting the team that would play against the Washington Commanders, his son’s favorite team.

Back in 2019, a fan named Donovan Voigt uploaded a clip of Dale Jr. winning his first Daytona 500 in 2004. Tagging the veteran racer in his post, the fan said that while he wanted Dale Jr. to win the crown jewel event, his dad was counting on Tony Stewart for the victory.

But the dad was wrong, and the son was right. Although Stewart put up a tough battle against Dale Jr. over the last 120 laps, the Chevy star’s aura prevailed till the end. Needless to say, it was an emotional win for Junior because he had lost his father just five months ago.

Reflecting on the same, Donovan addressed Dale Jr. and wrote:

“@DaleJr that first W in the 500 was memorable for myself at least, dad and I were rooting for oppsites, i was rooting for you and dad was rooting for @TonyStewart, and lets just say as an 8 year old when you out guess your dad, it makes you feel quite good about yourself lol.”

Dale Jr. could totally relate to the fan. Going back in time when he used to watch the NFL games with Dale Earnhardt Sr., the 50-year-man revealed that his dear dad would also support “opposite” teams just like Donovan’s dad did.

“My dad always pulled against my favorite NFL team. Was always fun when my team won. Hard to beat our dads at anything at that age. #igetit”

However, which team Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a diehard fan of back in the day is still unclear. What we know for sure is that Dale Jr. is an ardent fan of the Washington Commanders and he has been so since his childhood days.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. prefers NFL timings to NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels that if NASCAR starts its races when the NFL begins its games, it will attract more viewers. In an episode of his Dale Jr. Download podcast, the two-time Xfinity Series champion illuminated his thoughts.

According to the NASCAR vet, the best time to start races is post-lunch because that is the time when fans are usually back from church on Sundays or from a family meal.

“The NFL does it every week,1:00 game, 4:00 game. There’s reasons why the networks run it at 3:00 and 3:30, and there’s good reasons why they do it that way. For me, I prefer the 1:00 starts,” Earnhardt Jr. explained.

Dale Jr. last raced full-time in 2017. Following his retirement, he ran at least one race every year with the No. 88 Camaro under the banner of JR Motorsports, an Xfinity Series team he owns alongside his sister Kelley Earnhardt and Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Motorsports. Most recently, he drove the iconic No. 8 Budweiser Chevy in the Southern Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway. He is expected to run select late-model races through 2025 as well.

Furthermore, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is all set to join the Amazon Prime broadcast team in 2025. He hopes that NASCAR’s newest media partner would perhaps bring about revised start times for the races that he would be calling in the future. With the freedom that Amazon Prime has in deciding the start times, Dale Jr. is optimistic about the change.