Kurt Busch has played a small part in the newly released “We’ve Lost Dale Earnhardt: 25 Years Later” documentary, where he offered his insights into the time he spent racing against Dale Earnhardt Sr., and one of the more interesting stories he narrates is how the legend intimidated him thoroughly at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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In the penultimate race of the 2000 season at the Rockingham Speedway, Busch had spun Senior’s son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., around when the latter was in a tight battle for Rookie of the Year honors with Matt Kenseth. While Dale Jr. himself did not find a big issue with things, his father took things a bit personally and decided to teach Busch a lesson.
Busch narrated in the film, “So, the next week. Dale Sr. just plowed my bumper. I know what I did. I wrecked your son. I flat-out thought he was just going to dump me. We were going to DNF and head home early.
“So, I really pulled over the front straightaway. Sr. goes by, and he pulls over on the back straightaway and lets me back by. He was pissed.”
Here we go! Please tune in. “We’ve Lost Dale Earnhardt: 25 Years Later” Thursday after the Duel at Daytona, 10p ET on FS1. A look back at the legacy and legend of The Intimidator. Proud to have been a small part. pic.twitter.com/LTcvXdaEai
— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) February 11, 2026
Dale Sr. continued pushing and putting pressure on Busch for the entire race, making him sweat profusely. Busch believes that Dale Sr. wanted to make him realize that the show was his and that nobody gets by without punishment after making a mistake. But this lesson wasn’t about taking revenge on a driver who’d wronged his son.
Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s lessons for young drivers
The Intimidator had the habit of bullying youngsters and newcomers on the race track. This wasn’t something he did out of spite or to show them who the big dog was. It was his own way of testing their courage, skill, and toughness. When a driver didn’t crack under the pressure who shoved on them, he automatically developed respect towards them.
In another interview a few years ago, Busch spoke about the Homestead-Miami incident in more detail.
He said, “Dale Sr. approached me at the final race of the year at Miami-Homestead, and he said, ‘Son, you need to keep track of your front bumper.’ He rode my rear end in that race for, I swear, 350 miles of that 400-mile race at Homestead that year. He was sweating me to no end to show me how I needed to have more car control.”
Busch was one of the handful of drivers who survived the brutal lessons from Dale Sr. Notably, the two made contact with each other in the 2001 Daytona 500 as well. Moments before the disaster that took Dale Sr.’s life, they bumped into each other on Lap 87, and the Intimidator had flipped Busch off.
25 years after the unfortunate incident, the racing world and Busch mourn an insurmountable loss.
