Ever wondered what path Dale Earnhardt Jr. might have taken had racing not defined his life? The answer came straight from the source during a recent episode of his podcast, where Dale Jr. talked about an off-track passion of his that frequently leaves his home in disarray, at least from his wife, Amy Earnhardt’s point of view. The NASCAR Hall of Famer revealed a fascination with hands-on electrical projects, admitting that whenever he gets spare time, he gravitates toward wiring, hardware, and anything that can be taken apart and rebuilt.
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Dale Jr. has always been open about his interests away from the racetrack. Over the years, he has spoken about spending hours scrolling through eBay in search of unusual collectibles, curating and restoring classic and street stock cars inside the expansive garage on his property, and immersing himself in online gaming, particularly the highly detailed simulation platform iRacing.
He also enjoys listening to music and is fond of vinyl records, and relaxes by watching Bravo television shows. Besides that, outdoor activities remain part of his routine, but when he is inside the house, his attention consistently turns toward fixing wiring issues wherever he finds them. That tendency often leads him into projects that are far more time-consuming than initially expected.
“When I get a little free time at home, a lot of times I tend to pick up a project that’s electrical in nature…” Dale Jr. said, before detailing one such undertaking that consumed days. He described purchasing new four-foot-tall equipment towers to replace older units that had been lost over time to wear, lightning strikes, or obsolescence, including outdated DVD players.
He stripped those towers down completely, removing every component before rebuilding them to suit his needs. “And so I tore all of the components out of the tower and in reinstalled what I wanted in a short tower,” he said. He installed towers on every floor of the house and repeated the process on two separate units. “And boy, that’s like a two-day proc. That’s like a two-day job. But it’s so much fun.”
The satisfaction he draws from these projects runs deep enough that Dale Jr. openly speculated about an alternate career path from racing. “Like, if I didn’t make it in racing, I’d probably be in IT. I freaking love it…,” he said, admitting to even dismantling light switches to repair them and tinkering with everyday fixtures around the house.
Amy confirmed her husband’s account, noting that he constantly looks for something to disassemble and reassemble. She described the room housing their server as being surrounded by poured concrete, almost resembling a safe room, which effectively blocks cell service.
When Junior heads downstairs to work on the computers, communication becomes nearly impossible, even if he carries his phone, because there is no signal in that space.
Despite acknowledging his skill and enthusiasm, Amy still questions his approach. While she understands his ability and commitment, she continues to wonder why he feels compelled to take on those electrical projects himself.
