Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the modern era of stock car racing is one person who is synonymous with NASCAR. Be it driving for Rick Hendrick in the Cup Series at one point to now owning an Xfinity Series team, Junior is the embodiment of racing for fans today. However, if there is one person who has seen him during his formative days in school is veteran crew chief Rodney Childers.
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A legend of the sport in his own right, Childers elaborated on how the NASCAR driver turned team owner and analyst got his first taste of racing while appearing on a recent episode of Kenny Wallace’s podcast. “We went to high school together. We sat right beside each other in drafting class and that was before he was even racing,” said Childers.
Childers further elaborated on how Junior’s start in racing was a rocky affair, at least in the eyes of his father, the late Dale Earnhardt. “He never pictured himself as a racecar driver. He went and rode a go-kart one time and he flipped it right in front of his dad and his dad told him he was done, he was never racing again.”
As the conversation went on, Rodney further revealed how he, who started as a driver in the sport, was the one Dale Jr. looked up to back then. “He knew I was winning all the time. Every Monday morning he’s like, ‘Where did you go? How many classes did you win?’ We ended up being pretty good buddies. I went to his first Street Stock race ever in Concord.”
Did you know @DaleJr & @RodneyChilders4 went to high school together?!
Childers tells some great stories from their teenage years on "@Kenny_Wallace Conversations" on the Kenny Wallace YouTube Channel…
Brought to you by @JEGSPerformance!
Check out the podcast version on… pic.twitter.com/2XqVxPPnxT
— The Kenny Wallace Show (@KWallaceShow) January 10, 2025
What followed for Junior was a Hall of Fame-worthy career, one which extends to this day with the JR Motorsports owner’s cameo appearances in select Xfinity races. What started as a means to get closer to his father during the initial stages morphed into a lifetime devoted to racing, as he accepted the fact.
Dale Jr. also has built what could arguably be called the biggest content creation and broadcasting empire with Dirty Mo Media today, owing to his experience as a former analyst and commentator for NBC Sports.
Rodney Childers on the other hand went on to find success with former driver Kevin Harvick, serving as the driving force behind the #4 Stewart-Haas Racing crew, propelling the team to championship victory in 2014.
All in all, this culminates in showing the variability of the racing world and how diverse connections between certain people can change one’s outlook and carry them to their destiny of sorts. While other motorsport genres might not be able to boast of the same, NASCAR on the other can.
