It’s practically written in the big sister’s handbook: They are tasked with taking care of their younger siblings, even in adulthood. Kelley Earnhardt Miller has played that part to perfection, having been the protector, mentor, and eventually business partner for younger brother Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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In a four-episode podcast companion to the Earnhardt documentary streaming on Amazon Prime, Kelley reflected on her life growing up with Dale Jr. One of the most fascinating parts of the interview was Kelley talking about when their father decided to send Dale Jr. to military school.
Two weeks later, Kelley knew she couldn’t let Junior continue there on his own. So she asked Dale Sr. to sign her up as well. Kelley insisted on it to ensure she would not only be able to keep an eye on Junior but also serve as his protector, especially if he got hassled by classmates for who he was and who his father was.
“I never really heard from Dad or [stepmother] Teresa at military school. Then one day, I walk outside and my sister walks up and she’s wearing the stuff [a full uniform],” Junior recalled in the TV series.
“She’s a student. My mind could not register what I was seeing. I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ And she goes, ‘I’m here, I missed you’,” he added.
Kelley then spoke about her side of the story. “I made the choice to go because I wanted to take care of Dale. He was this scrawny little skinny [kid], we used to call him ‘chicken legs’,” she said.
“Even in military school, it was like kid, kid, kid, Dale. So I had to go there and protect him because I didn’t have a clue what was going to go on at military school, but I figured that he wasn’t going to be able to handle it without me,” added Kelley.
Little brother Dale needed his sister
And indeed, Kelley was right in her assumption, much to both Dale’s chagrin, yet ultimate relief that someone finally had his back, even if it was an older sister. No man wants his older sis to fight his battles for him, but Junior was happy to have her around.
“My thought process was, ‘I got to be with him’. I had been looking after him in public school,” Kelley said of her little brother.
“It was hard sometimes to go to public school and have people talking terrible about your parent and how he was on the racetrack or whatever people thought, or them calling you names because they thought you were spoiled, and had no idea what was going on in our house and what level of spoiledness we were at or not at,” she added.
Kelley then elaborated on the bond she shared with Dale Jr. “Dale and I were just so close and always leaned on each other because if our parents were traveling, we didn’t have the relationship with Dad where we could just go tell Dad and Teresa what was going on or how we felt or whatever,” she said.
“We were kept by nannies or our family and we had live-in nannies mostly, who were to follow strict rules and do these different things. So I just imagine that I was going to be most comfortable and feel better if we were together and I could know what was going on with him, and he could know what was going on with me,” she added.
Interestingly, Kelley can’t remember exactly what led her to follow Junior to military school. She laughed and said, “My parents were probably like, ‘Hey, it’s easier if both of them were up there [in military school]’. We’re having to worry about Kelley at home this weekend and Dale (at military school). Logistics were a lot easier.”
And that relationship has continued way past their school days, too, with Kelley being a constant presence in Dale Jr.’s life and business interests.
