Dale Earnhardt Jr., Beyonce and Monaco
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Did you hear about the time Dale Earnhardt Jr. met Beyonce?
Interestingly enough, it was the same day he met Danica Patrick for the first time.
It was 2006, and rapper Jay-Z was making a comeback. For his first music video, Jay-Z wanted to make a splash by having Earnhardt Jr. and Patrick race convertibles through the streets of Monaco.
Earnhardt Jr. had been wary about going. For one thing, he’d never been to Europe before. Second, the trip required him to get on a plane immediately after a race at New Hampshire, fly eight hours and then do a video shoot for what he called “a 30-hour day.”
But he agreed to go, despite his initial concerns. And it was there he met Patrick and laid the groundwork for what would ultimately become a partnership in NASCAR.
“It was a weird experience,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I couldn’t sleep [on the way to Europe], I was so excited. Scared to meet Jay-Z, nervous to meet Jay-Z and all that. [I thought], ‘Will Beyonce be there?’
“It’s incredible, that being the place [he met Patrick]. We had dinner with them, and afterward me and her were able to joke around. The hard part was just trying to stay awake for the shoot. I really enjoyed getting to know her.”
But enough about Patrick. Was Beyonce there?
“Oh yeah!” Earnhardt said, his eyes lighting up. “I was standing on some street, and I was sitting on a concrete wall next to the street, and Jay-Z was a couple people down, and he comes over and was like, ‘Hey man, thanks for coming.’ This was our first introduction, and here she comes, walking up. She’d been shopping or something. And then we ate dinner with them later that night.”
So did Earnhardt Jr., who often gets butterflies in his stomach about meeting celebrities, think Beyonce was cool?
“Hell, yeah!” he said. “I mean, I’m telling you, I was impressed. We ate dinner, had a couple beers and everyone was just joking around. I wasn’t nervous at all, and I get pretty nervous about that kind of stuff. It was pretty neat.”
To watch the music video of Earnhardt Jr., Patrick and Jay-Z, click here.
