“Wasn’t all that great”: When Kelley Earnhardt revealed not being a fan of Dale Earnhardt and stepmom Teresa’s Christmas celebration

Kelley Earnhardt was not fond of her stepmom Teresa and her Christmas celebration. Among many stories from her childhood, she also wrote about how she enjoyed celebrating Christmas with her brother Dale Earnhardt Jr., a NASCAR legend, and real mother Brenda Gee in her book Drive.

In a podcast with Graham Bensinger four years ago, during the release of her book, she revealed how she celebrated Christmas with her mother. The interviewer questioned Earnhardt:

"What was important to you in the book to convey about your mom?"

"You know, from my mom's perspective, she was an awesome parent," replied Kelley Earnhardt.

She explained that her mother lived six hours away from her when she was a kid, but "she made every effort under the sun to make our visits with her, to make memories with her." Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sister has some fond memories of her childhood with her mother, especially on Christmas day.

Kelley Earnhardt mentioned that her mother was allowed to pick her and Dale Earnhardt Jr. up on Christmas after five. Before that, both of them celebrated Christmas with their stepmother Teresa, which Kelley said "wasn't all that great." The siblings used to wait at the door for their mother to come and pick them up.

"She was allowed to get us at five o'clock on Christmas day; she drove six hours from Norfolk, Virginia. We got in the car with her drive six hours back. We would get home to her house at midnight, and we'd have Christmas right at midnight," stated Kelley Earnhardt. [02:39]

---

Kelley Earnhardt on her relationship with her dad and stepmother Teressa

Kelley Earnhardt and her brother Dale Jr. faced an unstable environment in their home after their parent's divorce. In a podcast with her brother Dale Jr. in 2019, she opened up about her childhood days. Despite having a fulfilling life, Dale's sister strongly believed that they lacked a "family-loving situation."

She further explained:

"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]

Brenda Gee Jackson was the second wife of Dale Earnhardt Sr., and the couple was blessed with two kids, Dale Jr. and Kelley. But soon after Dale Jr.'s birth, the couple separated, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. got married, for a third time, to Teresa Houston in 1982.

Both kids lived with their birth mother and enjoyed their time there. But a fire destroyed their house, and the kids moved back to live with their father and stepmother, Teresa Houston, while Brenda relocated to Norfolk, Virginia.