We’ve known Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a country music singer.
But did you know he was also a music video star?
He was a close friend of both Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn back in the day, and actually appeared in the music video for their song “Honky Tonk Truth” in 1997.
The idea started when Brooks & Dunn were at a race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and as they were walking through the garages towards Dale’s transporter, they heard a girl behind them whispering to her friend “That’s him, isn’t it?!”, thinking Kix was Dale Sr. from the back.
Kix said his chest puffed up when he overheard her, and when he turned around to say something, he could tell she was disappointed he wasn’t Sr.
And I’m just now realizing that, holy shit… they’re actually twins.
I had never really thought about it until I saw the music video, but you would never even guess Dale was in it if you didn’t know it was him and not Kix at certain points. It’s kind of scary how much they look alike.
Anywho, they headed for his trailer and told him the story (after reluctantly waking him up from a nap) and had created an entire idea for the music video for their next single.
After a couple drinks later that night and a little bit of coaxing from Kix and Ronnie, he agreed to do the video. They also promised him they would take out any of the clips he didn’t like after they edited the video, which helped seal the deal with The Intimidator.
The iconic trio filmed at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and it truly captures the three of them and all of their 9’0s glory. Hell, it might just be the greatest music video I’ve ever seen…
In what is truly a crime against humanity, though, the song only peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart that year. Shoulda been a #1 purely because of the music video (although that’s absolutely not how it works in any way, shape, or form and I digress…).
Over time, they all became such good friends that Dale even named his $4 million yacht “Sunday Money” after the song they all wrote together, and Brooks & Dunn later recorded for the album The Dale Earnhardt Winston Cup Collection.
That specific record was done in conjunction with his 1993 NASCAR Cup Series Championship (his sixth title out of seven overall) and played at the awards banquet to honor him that year. Legend.
Unfortunately, the album was never available in record stores and was mostly sold through racing-related retailers and mail-in order publications (times have really changed).
It’s pretty hard to find these days, but it also featured the likes of other greats like Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio, BlackHawk and more. What I would do to get my hands on a copy.
Without further ado, here’s the “Honky Tonk Truth” music video that accompanies their kickass song.
I know it says “w/o Dale Earnhardt”, but I promise you, he’s in it… absolutely glorious:
And “Sunday Money”, which is nearly impossible to find anywhere in it’s entirety but is a whole song about the life of Dale Sr. and what a badass driver he was.
We need this on streaming platforms ASAP:
Lastly, an up-close and detailed look at the million-dollar yacht of a legend:
