“He Starts Crying”: When Dale Earnhardt Got Emotional Because He Could Afford a Good Christmas Gift for His Mother

The Christmas of 1980 was special for Dale Earnhardt. He had just won the first of his seven Cup Series championships and was riding high in the offseason. What made the joy feel greater was that he finally had more dollars than ever in his life to spend. How he spent all those winnings is one of the best Christmas stories in NASCAR.

Joe Whitlock, a writer who later became the public relations director of Charlotte Motor Speedway, narrated this tale in the I am Earnhardt documentary in 2015.

It goes, “After he had won the Winston Cup crown, we came home and he’s driving the car and I’m sitting the in passenger seat. And he starts crying, he’s laughing and crying, it’s not a serious cry.”

This is a nice little Christmas story. Joe Whitlock remembers the Christmas when Dale Earnhardt finally had enough money to buy his mother a nice gift. pic.twitter.com/T9Cpb7rPJx

— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) December 24, 2024

When asked what was making him cry, he’d said that it was going to be the first Christmas of his life in which he was going to gift his mother, Martha Earnhardt, something that she didn’t have to plug into a wall.

It had all been toasters and other appliances to that point. So, what was it that he wrapped up in colorful papers that year? A beautiful set of diamond earrings.

Martha was pleasantly surprised with it. What took her aback was that he could even afford the expensive jewelry. She mentioned in the documentary that she still kept them and that it was amazing how her son fought to get where he did in the tough world of motorsports. Her role in the same fight was no menial part.

The deep bond that Dale Earnhardt shared with his mother

Martha was married to Ralph Earnhardt from 1947 to 1973 when he passed away at the age of 45. The couple had five children, and Dale was the eldest of three boys. While he grew up to be a rough and intimidating person, it was she who mellowed him out and stopped him from crossing certain lines. Understanding her love, he only tried to reciprocate it whenever he could.

She said in a 2011 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, “He was always here during holidays, and you’d never know when he would drop in. He’d drop by and visit for a little bit. I never knew when he was coming. I just took whatever I could get in his spare time. He was a good son. He did a lot for me.”

Martha passed away on Christmas Day 2021 at the age of 91. She spent her final days in their family home in Kannapolis, North Carolina. She would often meet with visitors who came to see the statue in Dale Earnhardt’s likeness at the downtown. Her granddaughter, Kelley, believes that conversations with the Intimidator’s fans were deeply therapeutic for her.