How Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Accidental $400 Phone Bills Led to a Fight With His Elder Brother Kerry Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s first marriage, with Latane Brown, barely lasted a couple of years, beginning in 1968 and ending in 1970. They had a son from the short-lived union — Kerry Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s elder half-brother. Had fate got its way, the two brothers would never have known each other. But they were destined to not just meet but share a great relationship as well, barring occasional sibling squabbles including one over phone bills.

For a large part of his childhood, Kerry grew up with his mother and stepdad, unaware of who his biological father was. When he came to know the truth and got to meet the Earnhardts, he was thrilled. He soon got acquainted with his step-siblings, and developed a deep connection with them, especially with his younger brother, Dale Jr.

Very fortunate when you're able to work w/ family! Fun morning! Thanks @TrueTimber for having @EarnhardtOutdrs at @BassProPyramid pic.twitter.com/hDbGzaoHRs

— Kerry Dale Earnhardt (@KerryDEarnhardt) October 8, 2016

However, as sibling dynamics often pan out, things were not always rosy between the two half-brothers. Back then, when Junior ran up his brother’s phone bills playing computer games all day, things got a little awkward. The brothers looked back at that memory, and had a big laugh during an episode of The Dale Jr. Download back in 2021 .

Junior narrated how playing the racing game released by Papyrus required him to make interstate phone calls to Massachusetts. The result of that was multiple bills valued at over $400. The deal the brothers had was that they would split every bill in half.

Kerry had not anticipated such heavy invoices. He said on the podcast:

“We’re just learning about bills and stuff. We didn’t know about that stuff back then. We’re just learning but I knew whenever it jumped that high I was like, ‘I didn’t have nothing to do with this! How am I responsible?’”

Although Kerry and Junior shared instant chemistry, which eventually led them living together, this phase of their lives wasn’t always sweet.

How Kerry’s unwillingness to pay saw Junior create further trouble at the time

Kerry recalled how his brother had changed the locks on the trailer they shared back in the day and left to hang out with his friends. This was possibly in retaliation for Kerry not paying the exorbitant phone bills.

The elder half-brother was locked out when he returned home in the night. 

“Sure he knew when he changed that lock, I was getting mad when I got home, and it was even more embarrassing that I had this girl down for the first time that I can’t get into my own damn house. I got the girl in to wash our clothes and fold our clothes for us,” narrated Kerry.

Neither are sure that Junior did that out of spite. But they couldn’t point to any other reason either. Fortunately, they liked each other enough to sort out that and many other such fights quickly.

Despite their run-ins, the roots of the bond the Earnhardts shared seem to be strong. So much so that the two laugh about their escapades from back in the day.

It is beautiful to see the siblings still so close, having developed a deeper bond with each other over the years. Dale Earnhardt Sr. would’ve wanted nothing less for his sons.