Now that it is Valentine’s Day, many of us are wondering what to get for our partner. Should it be a small but meaningful gesture? Should it be something big? Or should it be something in accordance with the time of the companionship? There are all kinds of questions, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. might just have a pretty simple answer to all of them.
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The NASCAR Hall of Famer was recently asked by a fan on the Ask Jr. segment of his podcast about what to get for his girlfriend of 5 months for Valentine’s Day.
“It’s a balance. I think at that point you’re doing the traditional things. A dozen flowers, a box of candy, nice restaurant, that’s it. Don’t pour it on any stronger than that,” Junior replied. “Every year has to get better.”
“You can’t drop it down. You can’t bring it back down.”
Junior followed up his answer by recalling a lesson his father taught him early in his career that backed his advice on Valentine’s Day gifting.
What Dale Sr. told Dale Earnhardt Jr. that he referenced as Valentine’s Day advice
“One of the best lessons my dad gave me, there’s not many … he didn’t share very much. You can apply this to everything,” he said. Junior explained that this was back in 1998 when he had won the championship and found himself in the unfamiliar position of giving bonuses, following which Dale Earnhardt Sr. sat him down for some advice.
“Dad sits down and says, ‘Okay. We’re gonna give bonuses away this year. You’ve gotta take some of your salary and put it into our bonus plan. And you can decide how much each person gets individually,'” he described, to which Junior responded pretty emotionally, ready to give it all away to his crew members. “I wanted to give them everything. They deserve it. I’m only doing this and winning a champion because of them, so let’em have it,” he said.
However, Earnhardt Sr. corrected his son and told him, “One thing I need to let you know is every year after this, the bonuses need to increase. So maybe dial it down a little bit. You’re getting a little bit excited.”
Junior continued, “He was like, ‘That’s a good idea, but next year it’s gotta be more than that.’ The runway is 10-20 years of racing in the Cup Series and all of that with these guys, it’s gotta ramp.”
“Same thing with Valentines.”
To wrap it all up, Dale Earnhardt Jr. emphasized that one should start “nice and traditional” and then over time, one should plateau with something similar, until the time the relationship hits a milestone like a 5 years or 10 years. That is the time, Junior said, to “go big.”
