Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals why he got into racing

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now a 46-year-old retired hall off fame NASCAR driver who hasn't even stepped in a stock car for a while .

Of course he did come back for a one-off in the Xfinity Series at Homestead Miami Speedway, but that was almost a full year ago. Five years ago though, he was one of the top contenders for the Cup Series title

It almost seemed like his birthright to win at least one Cup Series title. And while the younger Earnhardt never accomplished that goal, he did accomplish his overall goal years ago.

In fact, one could really say that Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s NASCAR dream came true when he raced alongside his father in the Cup Series for the very first time.

“We just didn’t have a relationship,” the younger Earnhardt told Graham Bensinger when discussing his father. “We didn’t do a lot of hanging out. We didn’t communicate much unless he was telling me where to stand or where to be or what to fix or what to clean up. We didn’t go hunting together, he didn’t take me on trips. Like when he would go do things, I was never like an idea or a consideration.”

When did Dale Earnhardt Jr. take up racing?

Believe it or not, Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn't the kind of guy that really had much interest in going fast. Instead, he was a technician at a shop his dad owned, and he worked his way up to the assistant engine guy.

Unfortunately for Jr., he was fired after his dad lost the ownership of the shop and was in need of something else.

This is where it is said that Jr. started fixing his sister's late model car, and eventually started driving himself. This would eventually culminate in his illustrious 17-year career. He won two Xfinity Series championships, two Daytona 500 victories, 15-time most popular driver awards, some of the most iconic wins of all time and a brief time getting to compete against his father.

“The only reason I raced was to get closer to my dad,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “That was the only way I would. Nothing I did would register with him … and finally, when I started racing and I won a couple of races, I noticed we would talk about it, and he’d come in the shop and want to know what happened. And so I got more and more into [it], like ‘hey I gotta, I want to do racing’ because it gets me closer to dad.”

In the end, Jr would only enjoy a short time racing with his father and being under his tutelage, but the memories are probably enough to last a lifetime. Furthermore, Jr. carried on his dad's legacy brilliantly and kept NASCAR going at a time when no one else ever could.