Away from the racetrack, and away from the glitz and glamor that come with it, NASCAR drivers face the usual problems common people do. Over the years, Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has emerged as one of the most accessible sports stars, through his podcast and media activity. Recently, Junior opened up about an extremely emotional time in his life, a time every parent goes through while talking about a new development in his personal life.
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On the recent episode of Dale Jr Download, the two-time Daytona 500 winner opened up about being unable to control his emotions when his daughter, Isla, was about to go to preschool. Jr. also made it a point not to screw it up when it was time for her first day of kindergarten last week.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. “freaked out” watching his daughter leave for preschool
Speaking to Mike Davis, an emotional Junior expressed, “Today was my oldest daughter’s first day of kindergarten. So that was really cool. If you don’t have kids, taking your kid to school to is pretty emotional. I remember taking Isla to a preschool, that was something else.”
“She didn’t like it, so when they get emotional, it makes you even more emotional. And Amy reminded me last night that I didn’t hold it together in that moment back then when we were taking her to her toddler class.”
When the teacher came to get Isla for class, Junior remembers telling his wife that he did not want her to go. Now this was during the pandemic, so the teachers of the school wore masks for safety. After listening to her father’s concern, coupled with the fact that there were people in masks all around her in a new place, Isla freaked out, in turn making Dale Jr. freak out.
“It scared her I think, I think I messed up. And then she got upset and then I was like freaking out, like what do I do to fix this situation.”
Was Dale Jr. able to hold his emotions this time?
This time though, things went smoothly. With some experience of being in the public eye, there was no feeling of getting overwhelmed before the big step for Isla this time around.
“Today, totally different. So we had an orientation yesterday and basically taking her into class, and she gets to meet her teacher, she gets to see her desk and who she’s sitting with and meet some of the other kids in the class, and I think that was a really good thing.”
“So when we got there, she was totally fine, excited, ready to go. And so I’m excited about that, that was good. It went really well.”
Junior noted that this time, Amy was the one who got overwhelmed with emotions on the way back. Something quite natural, one can say. Sharing stories like this is how Dale Jr. continues to stay close to his fans, who still show love to one of the most endearing personalities the sport has ever seen.
