Beginning in 1993, Jeff Gordon went on to become one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. His genius was recognized early on by many, including Dale Earnhardt Sr. By the late 90s, Gordon had already won himself a handful of Cup Series championships and became a tough competitor to The Intimidator. But this only further increased their mutual love and respect.
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In a recent appearance on the Harvick Happy Hour podcast, Gordon took listeners back to those mellow 90s days and revealed how Earnhardt had taught him much about life away from the race track despite their rivalry. He used the example of when the legend took him to a Japanese steakhouse after a Cup Series exhibition race and had him eat the head of a shrimp.
The head being cut off right in front of him and cooked had caused Gordon to hesitate a bit but he did eat the dish, to not disappoint Earnhardt. He said, “Of course. He tells me to do it. I did it. I mean, I didn’t love it. But now, it is a story. I’ll never forget. He got me into drinking vodka and grapefruit juice. It made me want to look at beyond racing.”
From eating shrimp heads in Japan to drinking vodka and grapefruit juice, @JeffGordonWeb tells @KevinHarvick that Dale Earnhardt taught him a lot about enjoying life outside of racing. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/FpzE94nEpc
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) October 31, 2024
“How to enjoy racing, work hard at it, but enjoy the fruits of your labor and I saw that through him. I don’t know if a lot of people knew how high-end he lived. He did it right but he didn’t bring that out in public.”
As famous as their on-track battles were, Earnhardt never hesitated to help Gordon climb the ropes of superstardom in stock car racing. This revelation paints a clear picture of that.
Why Gordon refused to listen to Earnhardt’s advice when he was young
The four-time champion wasn’t always the wise and mature man that he was in the later years of his career or now. There was a time when he was new to the sport and thought he knew better than everyone else.
He acknowledged in a 2009 Fan Fest at Daytona that all the advice Earnhardt gave him used to go through his ears and that it had taken him years to realize how important they were.
The legend’s words related to branding, trademarks, license arrangements, and others still help him. He had also counseled on the personal aspects of life and taught how to balance family and other passions with a career in motorsports. Gordon said, “It’s kind of crazy. Maybe that’s just getting older.”
“But I look back now on those days, those conversations with Dale, and it puts a big smile on my face because now I feel like I’ve really been following along some of the footsteps that he was saying”.
Decades have passed since NASCAR lost its greatest driver. But his memory lives on through the memories of many like the Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman.
