I’ve said it here before, but I just want the record to show: Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are my favorite NASCAR drivers ever.
Full stop.
I have the diecasts, shirts and Dale Sr. Coca-Cola cardboard cutout to prove it.
Two of my most cherished NASCAR memories are watching the 1998 and 2014 Daytona 500.
In 2021, I dutifully sat down with my dad — the elder Earnhardt fan who introduced me to NASCAR — and watched ESPN’s E60 documentary that marked the 20 years since Dale Sr.’s death.
Anything Earnhardt related is going to be catnip to me.
Then came Thursday morning.
Amazon Prime dropped the trailer for its first major NASCAR project under its part of the new TV deal.
My first thoughts were what any Earnhardt fan would think.
This is awesome.
The opening “welcome to my office” clip?
Nailed it.
Produced by Ron Howard?
Hell yeah, I will definitely be watching Memorial Day weekend.
Then I sat with it for a few moments.
On almost every level, Prime coming out of the gate with a production focused on Dale Earnhardt makes sense.
Even though it’s been 24 years since his death, he still stands as the most recognizable figure of NASCAR’s last 40 years not named Petty.
There’s a reason almost every other social media post from NASCAR, NBC Sports and FOX Sports feels like it’s Earnhardt-related and why you can still buy overpriced GM Goodwrench hats at merch haulers on race weekend.
Also, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now part of the Amazon family as an analyst.
When Jay Busbee’s book Earnhardt Nation was published in 2016, Dale Jr. put out a statement that he had politely declined to participate in it, wanting to tell the family story on his own terms at some point in the future.
I have to imagine this docu-series is that project.
If you have the chance to do an Earnhardt project with Dale Jr. in the fold and Howard producing, who wouldn’t take that opportunity?
However, four years after being able to resolve my own lingering emotions about Dale Sr.’s death, I can look at it from a different point of view.
In addition to the 2021 ESPN documentary on Dale Sr., there was the stellar Earnhardt documentary Dale in 2007 that was narrated by Paul Newman.
A lot has already been documented about the man.
Dale Sr. died 24 years ago. Dale Jr. retired from full-time racing in 2017.
Why not launch with a project that’s more focused on the sport in its current state?
We have gotten that recently, as Netflix has had its own documentary projects about Bubba Wallace and the great NASCAR Full Speed series (which will have a second season at some point this year).
After being announced two years ago, we’re still waiting for Amazon’s documentary about NASCAR’s 24 Hours of Le Mans adventure to be released.
I would love for Amazon, or even HBO Max, to do an all-encompassing project that covers NASCAR history, decade-by-decade, to introduce potential new viewers to the sport.
There are also plenty of other historic drivers who can be mined for content.
Where’s a documentary about Mark Martin?
Anyway, I’m going to watch all four episodes of this new docu-series like it’s my job, because it’s freaking Dale Earnhardt.
NASCAR wouldn’t be NASCAR without the name Earnhardt.
But there’s plenty more to NASCAR than one name.
Daniel McFadin is a 10-year veteran of the NASCAR media corp. He wrote for NBC Sports from 2015 to October 2020. He currently works full time for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and is lead reporter and an editor for Frontstretch. He is also host of the NASCAR podcast "Dropping the Hammer with Daniel McFadin" presented by Democrat-Gazette.
You can email him at danielmcfadin@gmail.com.
Dale Jr has gotten carried away his podcasts as well. The original interview format was great…must listen type stuff. Its become 4 days a week. Now I don’t even listen to the rarer interview day anymore. He’s a great and likable guy in real life and on the radio, but the path to previous TV numbers isn’t through either man named Dale Earnhardt…and I mean that with total respect and admiration for them both.
I apologize in advance to those I offended by daring to speak my opinion,
I think it’s actually a real indictment of how uninteresting the current batch of drivers are. Assessing points penalties for language or frankly describing when there was payback on the track has completely sterilized any individuality. We’ve gone from “Rattle his cage” to “We were faster than whatever Xfinity is hawking this year”. They’re boring. I hardly watch pre and post race. It’s sobering when Denny Hamlin is one of your most interesting characters. He wouldn’t have cracked the top 10 just 15 years ago.
To say Cup drivers lack personality is being kind. They’re completely devoid of personality.
I grew up a Jeff Gordon fan, and back then if you were a Gordon fan, the Earnhardt fans hated you. I was a fan of Dale Sr. but it took me him dying to appreciate the man and the great driver he was. It is nice to see all that has been written about him, and shown about him, but I also agree there is only so much you can say, and I agree with the poster below, there are so many other stories to be told. Never for Dale Sr. but also never forget some of the other great drivers.
NASCAR is a much different sport than when Earnhardt drove. That may well be unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. That said, it’s time to move on from senior because he simply isn’t relevant in today’s NASCAR anymore.
It’s also true that NASCAR really isn’t as much fun to watch anymore–all cars are the same except for the skin, and the direction it’s heading seems to follow the IndyCar pattern. I mostly quit watching IndyCar when all the cars became the same. Now NASCAR wants to go international, another mistake in my opinion. Why can’t keep it as “our” sport? It seems to be the only one left.
I am becoming more and more interested in local short-track racing, and even there tv is hurting the sport with overly long cautions so the commercials can be aired.
I go back to watching Dale & Ralph Earnhardt racing local dirt tracks in the Carolinas in the ’70s. I attended my 1st NASCAR GN race in 1968 & my most recent one last summer. I was at the Cup debuts of both Dales at Charlotte in ’75 & ’99. I wrote about the sport myself for several years, back when you had to have some actual knowledge about it. I’ve known & hung out with countless drivers & crew members in the sport, & I’ve had more than one actual friend in the sport die suddenly, (Alan Kulwicki & Randy Dorton).
It’s been 24 years since Earnhardt’s death, & I’m betting that neither you or anyone else commenting here even met the man for more than a fleeting moment, if that. Get over it. You’re acting like children.
That comment alone would get you 50 points and a $75k fine in modern NASCAR
Your point? I’m not a member of NASCAR nor affiliated with them in any way. Therefore your comment is ludicrously pointless.
It is to point out what would happen IF you were a member of NA$CAR. Comments like that are “detrimental to the NA$CAR brand” and will not be tolerated.
But as I’m not a member of NASCAR the comment had no background nor context; therefore it wasn’t germaine to this discussion in any way. It was as random & useless as someone saying “I like butter pecan ice cream.” in response to my initial post.
Duh?? markM, your overthinking this. Ed is just trying to be funny at NA$CAR expense. It wasn’t derrogitory to you in any way. Chill a little.
I like butter pecan also, but its not my favorite.
“The GD Germans ain’t got nothing to do with it”. Buford T Justice
That went waaaay over your head, didn’t it? Um, check ebay for a sense of humor, you need one badly.
No it didn’t, but since all most people can do these days is make what they consider to be snarky or “humorous” comments in response to actual, thoughtful commentary, or get offended when someone has a different opinion than theirs is, it’s not surprising. Context, which the replies have lacked, helps ground attempts at humor & actually makes them funnier.
It’s sad that nobody is smart enough to actually discuss a topic anymore, but not surprising at all. Perhaps takimg the time to make an actual, thoughtful, cogent reply is beyond most peoples capabilities now, which is pathetic.
With that attitude, its probably not hard to figure out why nobody wants to have a discussion about any topic with you. Wow.
My apologies for not suffering fools gladly, but I have better things to do. And the useless & inane comments that had nothing to do with my initial post are what triggered my attitude. I dislike stupidity.
Dale Sr was a great driver. Dale Jr is a whiner, his voice is annoying, and his over-zealous fans are even more annoying. Sorry, I’m not sorry.
Poor offended fan.
Agree Jr’s voice can be annoying, but there’s not much he can do about it. Perhaps the booth isn’t the best place for him, but you have to admit he is currently the only one (that I know of) who is actively pursuing and keeping the history of NASCAR alive via his podcasts – at least the more recent history of the 80’s and 90’s guys who he grew up with. Just watched the interview with Carl Edwards that recently released, it was really good IMO. I also found the Jack Sprague interview quite interesting.
It would be cool if he spent the time to put together some mini-documentaries about the early days of NASCAR, as nobody else is doing those either. Cover some long gone tracks and drivers. He has the access and platform to do it and do it well. And there’s plenty of material to keep the show going for a while if he covered it all from the beginning and worked his way to current times.