“Dad and Darrell Waltrip”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. opens up on his favorite NASCAR rivalries 

NASCAR is filled with iconic rivalries, and recently former Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed his favorite rivalries in the sport. In a recent Dale Jr. Download podcast episode, the two-time Xfinity Series champion highlighted that his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., had one of the best rivalries in his peak racing days.

Dale Jr. reminisced about two iconic battles his father had, starting with Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Darrel Waltrip. Both drivers were involved in a famous race crash at the Richmond Raceway. During the Miler High Life 400 race, in 1986, Big E led most of the laps and had a controversial incident with Waltrip.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s father made contact with Waltrip's right rear, resulting in a race-ending wreck at turn three. As a reconciliation, Junior asked Waltrip to run for his team Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) in 1998. Dale Jr. concluded the rivalry and said:

"I had Darrell's race car from that wreck in my graveyard, and so they had a run there where they really were upset at each other, and Darrell was a formidable rival because of his ability to be good, and now it was. It wasn't as volatile and as wild as the Bodine rivalry." [00:36]

Big E and Geff Bodine had a great bond before becoming rivals, and the duo often went to dinner parties together. But joining the Winston Cup Series changed their relationship. During the Busch race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1987, Dale Earnhardt Sr. spun out Bodine and wrecked his car.

This rivalry was not limited to the track but went on to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s family. He added:

"There absolutely was a period of time where they both did not like each other, and that bled into like even the families like me, uncles, aunts, grandma, everyone, right? Was all team Earnhardt on this fully and every time, especially when we went to Charlotte, they were even close to each other on the racetrack. It wasn't like what might happen. It's like you knew there was going to be something. You knew it." [00:46]

Dale Jr. concluded that after that one incident, both drivers hated each other and wanted to screw each other.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed his rivalry with Kyle Busch

A few months ago, in February 2024, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his former rival Kyle Busch went on a podcast with NFL tight end Greg Olsen. Junior recalled the moments when the two-time Cup Series champion had some run-ins with him on the track.

The duo was not on good terms. Earnhardt Jr. spun out Busch two times, starting from the Kansas incident, and in 2008 at Richmond Raceway when Earnhardt Jr. spun Kyle Busch once again with just three laps to go in the race.

"There were some things not good," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I wasn't handling it good, he wasn't handling it great, and we went back-and-forth in the media a bunch."

However, the duo have no hard feelings between them and opened up about their rocky past on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s podcast, The Dale Jr. Download.