Kerry, Taylor Earnhardt celebrating their father’s hall of fame induction, would like to see DEI car on the track again
Kerry and Taylor Earnhardt say they would like to see a Dale Earnhardt Inc. car on the track again. // LaDon George, NASCAR Illustrated
CONCORD, N.C. – With Dale Earnhardt being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Sunday, there is renewed focus on the Earnhardt family, the Earnhardt name and the race team that Dale Earnhardt founded.
Two of Earnhardt’s children are involved in all three as Kerry Earnhardt and Taylor Nicole Earnhardt still are involved at Dale Earnhardt Inc. while Kelley Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are co-owners at JR Motorsports.
Kerry and Taylor were at Charlotte Motor Speedway Friday for an announcement that their father’s image will be on a Wheaties cereal box this summer and for another press conference announcing a special Bass Pro Shops paint scheme that will also honor Earnhardt.
Kerry and Taylor both acknowledged that nothing would be better than to see a DEI car back on the track. A year after Dale Earnhardt Jr. left DEI following the 2007 season, DEI began a partnership with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, which Kerry Earnhardt said is going well.
Dale Earnhardt, winner of 76 Cup races and a seven-time champion, died on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, which was won by DEI’s Michael Waltrip.
“That place was built on people and racing,” Kerry said. “I’d give anything to have that back. To have a Dale Earnhardt Inc. entry in NASCAR’s circuit would be an awesome feat. We do have our partnership with Ganassi Racing and it’s going great. Jamie McMurray has blown us away. … Juan Pablo Montoya is out there competing.”
Despite the success of Earnhardt Ganassi – Montoya made last year’s Chase and McMurray won this year’s Daytona 500 – Taylor Earnhardt said “nothing compares” to having a DEI car on the track. She said it absolutely could be done again.
“We were the best out there,” said Kerry, who at 40 is the oldest of the four Earnhardt children. “Everybody wanted to be what DEI was. Hendrick has that now. … Dale Earnhardt Inc. was the one that everybody followed. It could be [again]. It is a lot of work now, but it could be if the opportunities come up and the right people [from sponsors] got involved and want it to happen.”
Taylor Earnhardt, 21, is busy competing in rodeo and is a champion in barrel racing. She had more interaction with her father than Earnhardt’s other children and says he taught her about drive and determination as a competitor. Her experience with her father was different than that of the other Earnhardts.
“I grew up going to all the races – I grew up with a different side of Dad,” Taylor said. “I got more of the outdoor/farm life guy and they obviously got a lot of the racing, too. It was just a different experience.”
Kerry, who lived with his mother and his stepfather for much of his childhood, said that Taylor grew up much closer to their father because he had already established himself as a racer. And, as a girl, she tugged at Earnhardt’s heart.
“When we were growing up, Dad was working hard to earn what he was wanting in life and that was for everything to be solid and stable,” Kerry said. “When Taylor came around, that was when things were in place. Dad got to enjoy the family time. Unfortunately, with us, it wasn’t as much family time when we were younger, but we got to do a lot when we were older and Dad was established in racing.”
Both Kerry and Taylor said that the Earnhardt family is not as fractured as portrayed following Earnhardt Jr.’s departure from DEI.
“People have decisions to make in life,” Kerry said. “Sometimes you wonder if they are right or wrong. But you have to sometimes just give the gusto and go for it. Dad’s done it, and now Dale Jr.’s done it. You always try to better yourself. Hendrick was on top, why wouldn’t you go try it?”
The entire family has been together for events involving Earnhardt’s induction into the hall of fame.
“It’s both emotional and exciting for Dad to be in the first class of inductees in the hall of fame,” Kerry said. “We’re all excited about it. It’s good to see him still involved in racing today as much as he is 10 years [after his death]. He’s still in the top three of the most popular drivers and his sales are still up. It’s special in my heart to see everything continue on with Dad’s name.”
As far as continuing the Earnhardt name in racing, Kerry said his son, Jeffrey, has no current racing plans.
“He’s a teenager and living life,” Kerry said. “He’s got his own agenda at this time.”
