Dale Earnhardt Jr. once said that he would have become a car dealership mechanic if he had not been successful in his racing career. Fortunately, he was successful in it. So, what he instead became is the owner of two car dealerships in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.
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In 2012, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet (3127 W. Tennessee Street) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Buick GMC Cadillac (1850 Capitol Circle NE) were opened under the Earnhardt name in Tallahassee, Fla. The acquisition was made from longtime owner Larry Strom. Junior was still a driver for Hendrick Motorsports at the time.
He said, “This is something Rick and I have talked about doing ever since I came to Hendrick Motorsports, but we agreed it had to be the right situation. I’m honored to work with everyone at Hendrick Automotive Group and have this opportunity in a great market like Tallahassee.” The dealerships were the Hendrick Automotive Group’s first step into Tallahassee.
Unlike many other businessmen, Junior likes to keep himself heavily involved with the operations of his organizations. He visits the stores often to this day to make sure that the employees don’t consider him an absentee. He has not expanded on this area of business, and the two stores remain his only venture into car dealerships.
The biggest purchase regret Dale Jr. has
Junior is quite adept at being a sensible business owner. However, he made some questionable comments during a recent conversation on Bussin’ With The Boys.
He was asked about the biggest purchase he made, which he ended up regretting the most. He mentioned that buying cars was a pretty gray expenditure. Why? Because they depreciate as soon as they are bought.
He said, “I shouldn’t say that being in the car business. But, oh, man! I bought a Callaway Corvette that was kind of a thing back in the day. Callaway Corvettes. I bought one of those, and it was the dumbest thing. I had it for a while and finally sold it for like a fraction of what I paid for it.”
He continued to narrate how a friend of his had dropped a motorcycle on the car, and that it had to be repaired at a body shop. The Corvette was something he did not need, he admitted. These are rather surprising words to hear from a man who owns a graveyard for cars.
