A veal real look at a complex father/son relationship.
Last year, Prime Video announced that their forthcoming four-part series called Earnhardt, which focuses on the life and legacy of the late, great Dale Earnhardt Sr., will be out this Memorial Day weekend on their streaming service. Featuring interviews from Dale’s friends, family, and obviously his son, Dale Jr., the documentary will also feature never-before-seen footage of Dale during his racing career from both his personal and professional life.
They’ve shared a few teasers and trailers, and yesterday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelley, who is the CEO of Jr. Motorsports, appeared on the TODAY show to talk about their father and give some insight on the documentary. Dale talked about how many who are fans of the sport today never got to see his father race, which is part of their motivation for making this documentary.
In a new clip from the series, Dale recalled being a kid and having a series of pictures from his dad’s 1982 flip at Pocono in his locker because he was so proud of his dad being a “bad***,” though in reality, they never “connect[ed] mentally”:
“I had taped in my locker, I had a series of photographs of dad’s flip at Pocono in 1982… I would open my locker and see that, and I’d go, my dad’s a bad***, I’m his son. But him and I didn’t connect mentally, he was this tough, ornery, hard working, dirt under his fingernails, could do anything guy. and I was tiny, short, shy and quiet. Like, I wasn’t making any sense to him.”
Jr. has talked openly about the struggles he had in terms of a relationship with his father, and he said making this show was fun, but also tough and emotional as they get into their personal lives and struggles having Dale Sr. as a dad:
“Well, I know a lot of people who are fans of the sport today may have never seen him race, and I see that sometimes in conversation, or on social media and so forth. New fans will come in and say, ‘I hear all abut this person, why was he so special? Why do so many fans in the sports continue to celebrate him?’
So I think it’s a great opportunity, there’s been some really good documentaries done in the past, but it’s been a while since we’ve had something this deep and thorough. The imagine group did an amazing job, and it was fun, it was tough, emotional, but it was a lot of fun. It’s something we can all be proud of.”
Kelley added that even though it’s about her dad, it’s an incredible human interest story and a really nuanced look at who Dale Earnhardt really was:
“This, to me, is a great human interest story for exactly what you’re saying. To see my dad in the light of a dad, and a husband, and a father. To bring you through that process while he was becoming greatness in his field.
So definitely, when we were young, we just saw dad. He was just dad. We knew he was really popular and really famous, but now with maturity, we get to look back at dad in a lot of different ways. He was a tough dad. A strict dad and a tough dad, but that era, they’re full of tough dads.”
Dale Jr. explained that he’s so impressed by how his father, who lost his own dad at a young age before he had any real success, defied all the odds to become the icon that he is, beloved by so many even decades after his passing:
“The probability of him becoming the success story he was was really, really low. That’s what I think it the most amazing thing to me about dad, is that, he did all these things against the odds. and I’m most impressed and proud of that, but it also made him very rugged, very tough, and difficult to connect with on a personal level.
And not many people got to do that with him, because his exterior was just so rigged and rugged. We’ve celebrated the 7-time champion for years, this is the real look at the person he was, and I think people are really going to enjoy it.”
I can’t wait to watch this documentary, which promises to be a very in-depth look at both Dale the NASCAR driver and the man, with new stories and footage from his legendary, yet imperfect, life.
The documentary is being produced by Imagine Documentaries, NASCAR Studios, and Everyone Else, in association with Dirty Mo Media, which is Dale Jr’s media company. It will come out the same weekend as the Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend, and the race will be aired for the first time on Prime Video with Dale Earnhardt Jr. making his debut on that service during this race in the booth.
Here’s a look at the most recent trailer:
The full interview with Dale Jr. and Kelley:
