“Shame on You”: Amy Earnhardt Reveals How Dale Earnhardt Jr. Once Scared Their Daughter Nicole

Thanks to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife Amy’s podcasts, there is a lot the NASCAR community knows about their lives at home. They showcase a normal, human side of one of the sport’s biggest icons, with lighthearted and sometimes hilarious moments that keep fans entertained. When the conversation turns to their younger daughter, Nicole, things usually spiral into laughter.

Dale Jr. and Amy have painted Nicole as a kid who marches to the beat of her own drum. At just five, she climbs onto countertops to grab snacks and fires back with comebacks that leave everyone blinking. Amy has even joked that Nicole takes after her dad.

But for a change, the duo recently shared a moment when Dale Jr. finally turned the tables and gave Nicole a taste of her own medicine.

In a recent episode of Bless Your Hardt,’ Amy and Dale Jr. recalled a trip to a themed bar where Nicole ran into Medusa. When the five-year-old asked who the figure was, Dale Jr. leaned into the lore. “I told Nicole, I was like, ‘That’s Medusa.’ I remember the story about Medusa. ‘If you look at her, you turn to stone and don’t lock eyes with her.’”

Amy, sitting beside him, ribbed her husband for spooking their kid. She said, “Shame on you, Dale. So, I had told her before totally believed everything I was telling her. I had told her before. I’m like, ‘That’s Medusa.

“It’s part of a mythological story. She’s not real, but she is a character. Kind of like Mickey and Minnie. They’re not real. They’re just characters,'” she added.

Fear, however, did not keep Nicole away. Dale Jr. shared that even while shaken, she kept asking to go back. Amy reasoned that that’s because Nicole loves spooky stuff. She would say, ‘I want to go to the creepy bar. I want to go to the creepy place.’ Junior added that she stayed caught between nerves and curiosity, wanting to crack the whole thing.

The tension finally boiled over on their last visit. It was mid-afternoon, but Nicole could not shake the thought that one glance at Medusa would seal her fate and turn her into stone. She grabbed her dad and said she wanted out. Junior recalled her clutching his arm and saying she had enough and was ready to leave.

When he asked what was wrong, Nicole said she did not want to turn into stone. That’s when Dale Jr. dropped the act and told her the truth: “Honey, it’s not real.”

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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