Although Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a skilled driver and had an intimidating presence on the track, his focus on racing often left little room for fatherhood. For all the respect he commanded on the track and among his peers in the garage, the seven-time champion struggled to develop that same connection with his children. Racing came first, and family, intentionally or not, was often left behind.
Advertisement
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been quite open about the emotional distance he felt from his father initially, a gap that only began to tighten once he stepped into a race car and began competing alongside him. But for Kelley Earnhardt Miller, that window never truly opened.
During the release of the Amazon Prime docuseries Earnhardt, she revealed that their relationship hit a rough patch in the final stretch. In fact, they hadn’t spoken for weeks before his untimely death at Daytona in 2001.
In a recent conversation with Ryan McGee on Earnhardt: NASCAR’s Companion Podcast, Kelley opened up about the abiding weight of that estrangement, how envy creeps in when she hears others share stories of warmth and laughter with her father. “Dale and I both had different experiences raised under the same roof. We reacted differently to things. We felt different about things,” she admitted.
She continued, “Even when I’m watching other people speak about Dad, there’s a level of jealousy at times when other people who got more time with my dad than I did in more relaxed, fun situations.
“When I hear Michael Waltrip talk about being in the Bahamas with my dad on multiple occasions, fishing, and I hear hunting stories, there’s a level of jealousy because I didn’t get to experience that with my dad. I didn’t get to go hunting with my dad. I didn’t get to go — went on one trip to the Bahamas and that was it.”
Despite the hurt, Kelley has learned to navigate that emotional weight, reminding herself that those memories reflect the version of Dale Sr. others knew. While her own relationship with her father was different, she still tries to make peace with the fact that it wasn’t any less real.
Kelley confessed that it’s a constant battle she lives with, realizing what she missed without letting it harden her heart today. It’s about choosing grace over resentment, refusing to let the best parts of herself get lost in what could have been.
And in those moments when jealousy rises, Kelley finds calm in believing that honoring her father means embracing the bond they did have — not mourning the one they never built.
