You don’t mess around with JR Motorsports CEO and co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller. That comes from someone who knows her the best, her younger brother, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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On this week’s edition of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, a listener called in with a question about how much input teams have regarding the various designs on their race cars for different races and sponsors.
Now, for background, Dale Jr. has designed a number of his race cars over the years. It’s been kind of a hobby for him, although he’s scaled back in recent years.
Junior relayed the story about a meeting between himself, Rick Hendrick, Kelley, and partners PepsiCo and Mountain Dew. When the partners said they would come up with a few designs for consideration for an upcoming car promotion on Junior’s No. 88 Chevrolet, Kelley popped up.
“Kelley’s like, ‘Well, Dale wants to be involved. Dale really wants to do the whole car,’” Junior said. “And (the sponsors) were like, ‘Oh, no, no, we’re going to do this, that and the other.’
“And she’s like, ‘Nope, Dale’s going to do the car.’ When Kelley is done negotiating, she’ll have her book open, her notes, and when the final answer is this, she takes the book and shuts it like that (slams it closed).
“And so in the middle of that meeting, they’re like, ‘We’re going to design the car, we already have some ideas,’ and she’s like, ‘Nope, Dale Jr.’s going to design the car.’
“Rick’s at the other side of the table and he’s like, ‘Y’all, I think we need to take a break.’ And he goes out into the hallway with Kelley and he’s like, ‘Kelley, this is a big deal. There’s a lot of parameters and money on the table and stuff like that.’
“And Kelly’s like, ‘This is what’s going to happen.’
That’s One of Junior’s Favorite Stories About His Big Sister
“I love telling that story,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “It’s more about the negotiator that Kelley is and just how she’s fearless. It’s pretty fun to be in a room with her when she’s trying to work something out with a partner or something like that.”
Needless to say, the sponsors backed down and Junior designed the car. It’s clear that Kelley got her negotiating genes from her late father, Dale Sr., who was The Intimidator both on the racetrack and in the boardroom.
