CONCORD, N.C. – This week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. welcomed a very special guest to “The Dale Jr. Download” – Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.
The two shared countless stories together, one of the highlights of which was the sit-down meeting the two held before Earnhardt signed with Hendrick Motorsports.
“When I went to meet with you, my heart was wanting to drive for Rick,” Earnhardt recalled. “Hendrick Motorsports to me all these years had been this perfect opportunity and the best team, and they just won and won and won. They had a really amazing reputation, plus the family connection I had.
“I had been racing for family for all these years, and that’s such a security blanket. Man, I kind of have that same security blanket if I go drive for Rick. He’s like family, he’ll take care of me, give me the benefit of the doubt.”
Hendrick didn’t know all that was going through the driver’s mind, and the owner had spent weeks working on the contract he was prepared to offer.
So, when the time came, he slid the contract across the table to Earnhardt, only for the driver to quickly say, “I don’t even want to know what that says.”
“I said, ‘OK, don’t look at it,’” Hendrick laughed. “Everybody was a little nervous, and I really wanted him to drive the car.”
Earnhardt did have a couple of requests, however.
First, he wanted the ability to take the helicopter to a few nearby races a year. And, perhaps most importantly, he wanted to make sure his side skirts were the same color as the rest of the car.
“Money didn’t motivate me and make me happy,” Earnhardt explained. “What made me happy was how my car looked – if the side skirts aren’t painted, it ruins the entire car. And I drive the car, I want the dang thing to look good! I never understood drivers that don’t care what their car looks like.”
Hendrick laughed that he didn’t know what to expect when Earnhardt asked for the requests, and when one revolved around the color of his side skirts, he was a little shocked.
“It took me about a second to say, ‘What? OK,’” the owner smiled.
Ultimately, Earnhardt signed the contract and the rest is history.
On the podcast, the two talked about Earnhardt’s tenure with the organization, including teaming up with crew chief Steve Letarte, and looked back at the family ties between Earnhardt and Hendrick dating all the way back to the owner’s relationship with his grandfather, Robert Gee.
The wide-ranging interview also broached the topic of how Hendrick Motorsports almost began with Richard Petty as its first driver, the rivalry between Geoff Bodine and Dale Earnhardt Sr. and how that was resolved with a fateful ride in a rental car, stories about Harry Hyde and Tim Richmond and even a little about the filming of “Days of Thunder” and its ties to the organization.
Throughout the episode, the close bond between Hendrick and the host was obvious, and that’s how the two closed the interview.
“I’ve seen it from the early days to growing up and being a special father, loving his little girl,” Hendrick said of Earnhardt. “So, we’re family and I treasure that. We’ll always be.”
To listen to the full podcast, click here.