“That’s Important to Me”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Unapologetic for Emphasis on “Dale Earnhardt Conversations” on His Show

Ever since Dale Earnhardt Jr. started his podcast show, the Dale Jr. Download, a big talking point on many episodes has been and continues to be conversations about the great Dale Earnhardt. Over the years, many associates, friends, co-workers, and rivals have come on Junior’s show and spoken about his father in an enriching way that has unlocked newer, lesser-known sides to the personality of the man nicknamed The Intimidator. And while some may not be a fan of the ‘Dale Earnhardt heavy conversations’ on the show, Earnhardt Jr. is unapologetic about it.

On a recent episode of his podcast show, Earnhardt Jr. refused to apologize for the heavy emphasis on conversations and subjects around his father. Because as per Junior, not only are the conversations important to him, but they also, just like they do to all of Earnhardt’s fans, make him learn more about the man he never truly knew.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is unapologetic about the Dale Earnhardt emphasis on his show

Last week, Hank Parker, a close friend of Dale Earnhardt Sr., made a big revelation about how the 7x NASCAR champion felt about himself as a father. That was something that Junior deemed “a mega moment” for him. He described, “When he’s talking about how inadequate dad failed as a father and man, that was a heavy, heavy moment.”

Then, Junior made his statement about the supposedly high quantity of Dale Earnhardt conversations on his show. “I wanted to say something. I’m not going to apologize for all of the Dale Earnhardt conversations that we have. I’m not going to apologize for Becoming Earnhardt or whatever we do in the future with that or all the guests that we have come in here that talk about Dad.”

“That’s important to me. I get a ton from it. I think our listeners enjoy it. I know we go heavy on the Earnhardt stuff. I know we do.”

Junior on why having conversations about his father is important to him

Earnhardt Jr. further explained that while some conversations about his father can get heavy for him or become “a little bit too much for him”, most of it is necessary. Along with that, he claimed “it’s part of the process” to get through the conversation.

“You only learn about people in certain scenarios when they’re very comfortable and they let their guard down. Hank spent a lot of time with Dad when he had his guard down. So we got to learn a lot.”

“I enjoyed that,” Junior said, as he added that almost 25 years after his dad’s passing, he’s still learning new things about him.

So of course, if a show brings a new perspective, brings a son closer to his father, a fan closer to his hero, and an icon closer to the people, then it’s a good show, isn’t it?