Though motorsports isn’t a part of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, there are a few other ropes that tie NASCAR to the international event. One of those ropes is Dale Earnhardt Jr. The icon has had a tryst with the five rings in the past on a few occasions. To look back at them now is ideal as the games continue to unfold at the City of Lights.
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Following his retirement from full-time racing in NASCAR, Dale Jr. joined NBC Sports as an analyst. One of the first jobs that he received was to cover the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He was a part of the network’s broadcasting team and reported on South Korean culture and tradition. While there, he visited the speed skating oval and the Alpensia sliding center.
Bobsledding was one of the sports that caught his immediate attention. He connected with the U.S. Olympic bobsled driver Nick Cunningham to learn more about racing on sleighs. It was natural that he connected with something that involved pure speed being the race car driver that he is. He admittedly had a great time in South Korea keeping in touch with his adrenaline.
I remember carrying the torch for the Olympics through Charlotte in 2001. I still have the outfit and torch. #Olympics2018
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 10, 2018
The one other time he shared a seat with the games was back in 2001 when he carried the Olympic Torch through Charlotte. He posted a picture of himself in the act on X (In 2018) and wrote that he had been super nervous about the flame going out. Fortunately, it did not. The outfit he wore that day and the torch are both in his possession currently.
When the Olympic Games wanted to set Dale Earnhardt Sr. back by $1 million
The 1996 Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta. Joe Mattes, the business manager of Dale Earnhardt Sr., thought that it would be a good idea to have the games sponsor the ride of the NASCAR legend during this time. He was a seven-time Cup Series champion by then and one of the most well-known athletes in the world of motorsports. But that did not help their case.
A representative of the Olympics set a fee of $1 million for the collaboration, Mattes revealed in an episode of “Dale Jr. Download.” Earnhardt Sr. was aghast at the idea of shelling out a million dollars to have the Olympics logo on his car and cast the idea aside.
But Mattes found a way to get the deal done by partnering with Revell, a Chicago-based company, that made die-cast model cars. With the company offering $700,000, Earnhardt Sr. pitched in $300,000 of his own and the 1996 No. 3 Olympic Car was brought to life.
