‘My Grandpa Was My Superhero:’ A Conversation with Jeffrey Earnhardt

Recently, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Go FAS Racing and Keen Parts announced that the No. 32 Ford Fusion will run a special paint scheme as part of Darlington Raceway’s throwback campaign. In the Bojangle’s Southern 500 over Labor Day weekend, Earnhardt’s car will replicate the blue and yellow paint scheme his legendary grandfather, Dale Earnhardt, drove during the 1981 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Last week, Splash ‘n Go had the honor of sitting down with Jeffrey to discuss his Darlington ride, his grandpa, growing up an Earnhardt, his MMA career and more. A transcript of the interview is below.

If you’re interested in buying a die-cast of Earnhardt’s No. 32 Keen Parts Darlington Ford Fusion, click here.

Splash ‘n Go (SNG): Regarding your Darlington car, did you have any input into the design of the car? If so, how much and what kind of advice did you have?

Jeffrey Earnhardt (JE): It was a no-brainer almost to want to do something in honor of my grandfather. The throwback paint schemes that they always do at Darlington now is a great opportunity to do that. I didn’t really come out and say ‘hey, let’s run this paint scheme’ and the team didn’t want to push it on me. Somewhere along the line it got thrown up in the air. It was in the back of my mind to begin with. I just didn’t want to come out and be the first one to say it, but the thought of a throwback paint scheme and the fact that my grandpa ran that paint scheme when he was in the No. 2 car and the No. 3 car and we’re 32. So you put both the numbers together and you got both cars that he ran with that paint scheme. It was one of those deals where it all just fell right in our laps really and we all thought it made sense. I definitely feel like it’s a great opportunity to honor my grandpa.

SNG: As you mentioned, your car number is the No. 32, which is a combination of the 2 and No. 3. Was that intentional or is that purely coincidental?

JE: It’s purely coincidental. That’s the number that Go FAS has always had since they’ve been in the Cup series. It kinda played out that way really. It’s pretty cool how it all played out. It definitely wasn’t anything planned behind that. Like I said, that’s been their number for the past few years. It’s just kinda cool how it all played out like that.

SNG: What does it mean to you to get to drive a car with a paint scheme that your grandfather ran?

JE: It means a lot. Growing up, my grandpa was my superhero. People look at Superman or Batman; well, my grandpa was that to me. To be able to have the opportunity to be behind the wheel of a car that has a very similar paint scheme to what he ran back when he was getting going and really taking off in the sport is a big honor. Just the respect and how much I looked up to my grandpa makes this a huge, huge opportunity and honor to be able to drive a car that just looks like his. It’s pretty cool, man.

SNG: What is your fondest memory of your grandfather?

JE: There’s quite a few. One of the things I get asked a lot is ‘was he the Intimidator off the track, also?’ And he was. I remember being a little kid, I always called him ‘Pawpaw Dale.’ And he would always tell me, ‘I’m not going to answer that.’ He said, ‘It makes me feel old. You got to call me Mr. Earnhardt.’ I always thought that was a pretty cool thing for him to say that to his own grandson. There are several different memories. One where he got me and my brother a go-kart – a little yard cart – and I ended up running it right into a fence over at DEI before DEI was what it became. It was just a little old shop back there at the time and chain-linked fence was put up around it or whatever. I ended up running the go-kart into the fence and I busted my lip off the steering wheel. I had already said I wasn’t getting back on it and him and my dad both made sure I got back on it before the day was over and drove it again. So, he was a tough guy. He was hard on us grandkids. He was the Intimidator all around, but he still had that soft side also.

SNG: In addition to the normal pressure that comes from being a driver at the highest level of motorsports, what kind of pressure do you have due to your famous last name?

JE: Obviously, there’s pressure that comes from the fans and the people watching who thought my grandpa was the greatest. He accomplished a lot in the sport and as for Dale Jr., he’s accomplished a lot also and he has a huge fan following. Well, there are always the people watching saying ‘Why isn’t he running? Or why is he running for his uncle?’ You get all this other talk from the fans. It creates a little bit of pressure, but I guess when you grow up from day one racing always having people look at you that way, you kind of get used to learning how to control that and not let it overwhelm you. I’m out here learning how to drive just like everyone else. Just because my last name’s Earnhardt don’t mean I was born a winner right off the bat. My grandpa, he learned from my great-grandpa, from being at the track and running and seat time. That’s how everyone else in the sport is learning and that’s how I’m learning. Just because my last name’s Earnhardt, don’t make me any different. I like to think there’s a little bit of talent born into me, but at the end of the day you still gotta learn just like everyone else.

SNG: What makes you different or sets you apart from all the other Earnhardts that have come before you?

JE: I’m not real sure the best answer to that. I feel like I’ve had to work really hard for the opportunities I’ve got and so have they. People always ask, ‘If my driving style is like theirs.’ I don’t really know the correct answer to that. I don’t believe I’m near the driver my grandpa ever … I’ll probably never be the driver my grandpa ever was. I feel like he’ll always be the best ever in my eyes. I don’t really know. I don’t really know what sets me apart or makes me different than they are.

SNG: What is your first memory of being at a race track?

JE: I remember, as a little kid, always going up to Hickory Motor Speedway to watch my dad race. Falling asleep on the concrete bleachers or after the race was over running around the pits – they got wrecked car parts – and kicking cans and all kinds of crazy stuff. All kinds of crazy stuff you do as a kid. It was a blast when you were a kid, but now you wonder why the hell you were actually doing it. But yeah, just being at the race track at Hickory, to think as a little kid I could fall asleep on concrete bleachers while cars are racing is pretty wild. But I guess when you’re around it enough you get used to it. Yeah, run around – just being a kid I guess. It’s what all the kids do these days. You go to your local short track and all the kids are running around trying to find wrecked car parts or whatever it is they can to take home. It’s funny, you see it happening and you remember back to those days when you were actually that kid running around looking for spare parts.

SNG: Is there anything in your NASCAR career that you would do differently if you had the opportunity?

JE: There are a lot of things that you think you would do different, but at the end of the day I feel like things happen for a reason and if it’s meant to be it will happen. But, I wish I hadn’t taken for granted the opportunity I had when I was driving in the K&N Series. I wish had taken that a little more serious and appreciated the opportunity a little bit more. But I was a little bit of a spoiled kid at the time when I got that opportunity and didn’t realize the opportunity I had. Once I lost that and that opportunity wasn’t there any longer, I realized how hard it is to get those kind of opportunities and how few and far between they are. Like I said, it’s been a lot of hard work to get to where I’m at now and I’ve learned to definitely appreciate every opportunity I’ve ever been given from that point on a lot more – to just appreciate the chance to be in the sport and have a ride. There’s a lot of young kids and guys out there that don’t have this opportunity and can’t find rides because of financial reasons or just … wrong place, wrong time, or not ever given the opportunity. I guess if anything I wish I would have appreciated that opportunity a little more.

SNG: If you could go back and participate in any race in NASCAR history, what race would you enter?

JE: I would say probably – I can’t remember if it was my dad’s first Cup race … it was at Michigan. It was Dale Jr., my dad and my grandpa altogether in the same Cup race. I’d like to be able to participate in that one. That would be awesome. To be running with my dad, my grandpa and my uncle would be a pretty awesome race to take part in. [Editor’s note: The Pepsi 400 Presented by Meijer on August 20, 2000, at Michigan International Speedway, is the only race in which Dale Earnhardt, Kerry Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. competed together.]

SNG: You’ve competed in both MMA and motorsports. What are the parallels between the two sports and which one is more challenging?

JE: As far as the physical side of things, MMA is definitely a lot tougher. But, the bigger thing I take out of them is the mental side of things and learning how hard you’re willing to work to be successful at something. I went into the MMA fight with a few months of training and a wrestling background from high school and that was about it. I didn’t really have a whole lot of knowledge in the sport, just the little bit I was taught in the few months that I trained. To do something like that, that you don’t have a very strong background in and you know very little in and to train as I hard as I felt I did and go and win the fight was a huge mental build for me to see that I was willing to work that hard to be successful at something I had no clue about was the biggest thing I took out of that. I felt like it carried over into the racing side of things to know how hard I’m willing to push and work to get a good ride or a good opportunity or just to be at the track and be successful at the track was the biggest thing. I would say as far as having that real strong drive, just looking at how competitive the NASCAR world is today, you have to be that competitive and that dedicated and work that hard to stay in the sport. As I said there are a whole lot of other kids out there or other drivers out there that probably are better than a lot of us drivers out on the track today that may never get this opportunity. So, you got to make sure you’re always doing your part and working as hard as you can to keep the opportunity you got.

SNG: Are there any plans in the future to step back into the cage for MMA or do you have that out of your system?

JE: If for some reason something was to happen and I couldn’t race, I’d probably look into doing another one. I’ve talked about it before, but luckily racing has kept me busy enough where I didn’t have that opportunity. I hope it stays that way because training sucks. It wasn’t any fun, but the reward after the fight was worth every bit of it. But at the moment, I have no desire to step back in the cage. Hopefully racing will keep me busy enough where I don’t have that opportunity.