Dale Jr. Says ‘Earnhardt' Docuseries Helped Him Let Go Of The Past
When the name Earnhardt comes up in racing circles, it doesn't hang in the air—it drops like a hammer. Few legacies in American motorsports carry the same weight, and even fewer families are as synonymous with both triumph and tragedy. On May 22 and 29, the name takes center stage again as Earnhardt, a four-part docuseries, premieres on Prime Video.
'This is our version of the story,' Dale Earnhardt Jr. said ahead of the release. 'I hope it is a bit of a period at the end of the sentence for me personally. I can move away from the responsibility of protecting it and telling it and carrying it.'
Co-executive produced by Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, the docuseries offers an inside look at three generations of racing royalty—Ralph, Dale Sr., and Dale Jr.—and the legacy that shaped NASCAR.
'I was very thankful and appreciative that Prime wanted to do this,' Earnhardt Jr. said. 'That gave us the freedom and control to make it authentic. We got to help write the story. We got to tell the story. We got to give them the content and help them piece it together.'
The project was born out of timing and opportunity, not ego.
'I didn't pursue this,' he added. 'I didn't pitch this. I didn't go to Prime and say, 'Hey, I want to tell this story.' I didn't know that I was at that place in my life. I'm not writing a book. I'm not trying to do some retrospective or anything. They came to us and they said, 'Hey, we'd like to tell this story, and we think now is a good time.' And so that opened the door.'
CHARLOTTE, NC - JUNE 13: Family members including sister Kelly Earnhardt Elledge (R) and mother ... More Brenda Johnson(C) listen as Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet, announces that he will drive for Hendrick Motorsports next season during a news conference at JR Motorsports June 13, 2007 in Mooresville, North Carolina. (Photo by)
As for how involved the siblings were in shaping the final product? Deeply.
'We saw the rough cut for episode one and Kelley and I had a lot of notes,' Earnhardt Jr. said. 'We had several phone calls with Prime, their team, and the production company and we wanted to be careful not to get too in the weeds but we wanted to say, 'That's not exactly right,' or, 'That's not accurate,' or, 'That didn't happen.' You want to be careful not to get in there and try to produce the damn thing, but you also want to make sure they're not putting out misinformation or something that's not accurate.'
Kelley Earnhardt Miller, a respected business leader in the NASCAR world and co-owner of JR Motorsports, echoed that sentiment.
'I think there's so many people that love Dad and love Dale and us,' she said. 'I want them to know the story. I want them to know our family. I want them to know our dynamics. I want them to know our journey and where we've been.'
And it's not just about where they've been—but where they are now.
'You get to this point in life where you're like, 'Man, I've learned so much and I feel like I'm finally a better person,' and then you want to tell people that,' she continued. 'You want to show people that. You want to explain that to people because of the growth and the maturity and the understanding and all of those things that have come from all the experiences that you've had.'
MARTINSVILLE, VA - SEPTEMBER 28: Dale Earnhardt sits in his hauler rig clocking some of the time ... More trials prior to race day on September 28, 1980 in Martinsville, Virginia. Earnhardt went on to win the Old Dominion 500, his fifth career NASCAR Cup win. (Photo by ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
The series doesn't sanitize the family's past, nor does it glamorize it. Instead, it digs in—especially around the complex dynamic between Dale Jr. and his father.
'It's heavy,' Dale Jr. admitted. 'It was difficult to watch, difficult to hear, difficult to go through. It brought up a lot of emotions, a lot of feelings that you thought you had already worked through. But it's healing.'
The docuseries also uncovers lesser-known truths about the Earnhardt legacy, including the relationship between Dale Sr. and his father, Ralph Earnhardt.
'I always thought my grandfather Ralph was a hardass and a tough guy,' Earnhardt Jr. said. 'And he may have been. But there's a part in the doc that tells the story of Dad taking all of his trophies to Ralph's shop and throwing them in the trash, and Ralph getting them back out and cleaning them and putting them back on the shelf. That don't sound like a hardass. That sounds like a guy that really loves his son and is proud of him.'
Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley are both parents now and watching the story of their family play out on screen was unexpectedly emotional.
Earnhardt is produced by Imagine Documentaries, Everyone Else, and NASCAR Studios, in association ... More with Dirty Mo Media. The series is directed by Joshua Altman and executive produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Christopher St. John, and Justin Wilkes of Imagine Documentaries; Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin of Everyone Else; and Tim Clark and John Dahl of NASCAR Studios.
'I saw my kids in the stands,' Earnhardt Jr. said of one scene. 'I remember when I saw that, I thought, 'That's me. That was me in 1979 in the infield in Daytona watching Dad win his 125.' So that was kind of wild to me. The circle of life.'
As for what they hope fans take away from Earnhardt, perhaps Kelley said it best:
'It was really important to me to tell our story and for our voice to be in it. We were never asked. We were never asked to tell it. We were never asked to be a part of it. So when the opportunity came up, I wanted us to be a part of it.'
And as for the lasting legacy of Dale Earnhardt Sr.?
'I think I want people to know that Dale Earnhardt is the reason why the sport is where it is today,' she said. 'He brought a fanbase and people to this sport that were unheard of, and that was unmatched.'
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