"The biggest racing series in the WORLD": When Hulk Hogan hyped NASCAR amid partnership with Richard Petty's team

In 1995, WWE royalty Hulk Hogan forayed into NASCAR. Hogan, an active wrestler from 1977 until 2012, partnered up with Richard Petty-owned Petty Enterprises in the Busch Series and sponsored their driver, Rodney Combs as part of the partnership between Petty Enterprises and World Championship Wrestling.

It's worth mentioning that while Combs went winless for the entirety of the 1995 season behind the wheel of the #43 car, he did manage to finish inside the top 10 on three occasions.

Speaking about his involvement in NASCAR during a press conference back then, Hulk Hogan said that 'Hulkamania' wasn't only limited to running 'wild in wrestling', and expressed his excitement about the upcoming partnership with Rodney Combs (as quoted by SpadeRacing):

"I been scouting all the drivers for some time now, brother, and Rodney Combs, he’s got the training, the prayers, the vitamins, to run wild all over NASCAR, jack! NASCAR is the biggest racing series in America, and now with The Hulkster and all his Hulkamaniacs on board, brother, NASCAR's gonna be the biggest racing series in the WORLD, brother!”

The six-time World Heavyweight champion further suggested increasing their presence in the main-event races and other promotional avenues and voiced his desire to have Rodney Combs feature in the Greco-Roman wrestling events.

“We’re talking main-event races, t-shirts, diecast cars, movies, heck—we might even try to get Rockin’ Rodney Combs in the ring, brother!”

As for how this association came to be, Richard Petty discussed that the deal was put in place ahead of the 1995 season, highlighting that someone of Ted Turner's stature and his organization backing the racing team was a lucrative deal.

Apart from sponsoring Rodney Combs and Petty Enterprises in 1995, Hulk Hogan would go on to serve as the grand marshall in a few NASCAR races in Daytona 2004 and Dover Speedway 2006.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. named his favorite wrestlers following Monday Night Raw appearance in 2022

Following his appearance on Monday Night Raw in 2022, Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up on his favorite wrestlers. Earnhardt Jr., one of the biggest stars in NASCAR, took to his podcast afterward and listed out the wrestlers he liked (as quoted by wrestlingheadlines.com):

“If I can kind of be quite honest about it, the wrestlers that I liked were Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A., Stone Cold, I did like The Rock, but not at first. The guys that I like are kind of like blue-collar, t-shirt and jeans, for me I’m still looking. That’s why I went. I got some friends of mine that go all the time," Junior said.

Furthermore, Dale Jr. mentioned that he wanted to get back into watching Wrestling but expressed disappointment over not finding a character he could 'connect to', like Steve Austin and Dusty Rhodes.

Detailing the kind of 'character' he would prefer, Earnhardt Jr. said that it would have to be someone he could relate to, a 'guy next door'.