Dale Earnhardt Jr. playfully challenges Jimmie Johnson to try Cheese Rolling Race

The two-time Daytona 500 winner and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Dale Earnhardt Jr., recently uploaded a story where he playfully challenged his long-time friend and former teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, to take part in the famous Cheese Rolling Race held every year at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester, England.

The 200-year-old tradition needs the participants to run down a very steep and grassy hill chasing a 9-pound wheel of cheese, with the winner taking home the cheese.

Resharing the post about the Cheese Rolling Race on his Instagram story, Earnhardt Jr. wrote,

"Why do I feel like this is the next thing imma see @jimmiejohnson doing."

Via Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Instagram Story

Johnson and Junior's friendship goes back a long way; way before the latter joined Hendrick Motorsports. In a 2017 interview with Hendrick Motorsports, the Legacy Motorclub owner said,

"I've known Dale a long time well before he joined Hendrick Motorsports, before I even moved to North Carolina or had raced a stock car. I met him during the Daytona speed weeks in February and started a friendship there that we carried on through today... I can proudly call him my friend," Johnson said.

Jimmie Johnson retired from full-time racing in 2020, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired in 2017. However, both Hall of Famers have been running select races even after retirement.

Jimmie Johnson drove Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the hospital at 2 a.m.

Jimmie Johnson appeared on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s podcast a few years back, with the episode featuring unheard stories about the two legendary drivers. One of those stories was about the time when Junior cracked his head open by hitting it against the bottom of a pool.

The duo was invited to Ricky Hendrick's (Rick Hendrick's late son) pool party to celebrate one of Johnson's 83 Cup Series race wins that had come earlier that day. Junior decided to turn the pool into a foam party by adding detergent to it.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. soon decided to take a plunge into the pool but couldn't see the bottom of the pool due to the foam. And so, he hit his head so hard that it started bleeding all over. Johnson lost no time in rushing his friend to the hospital. It was 2 at night. As reported by whiskeyriff.com, Johnson said,

"It looked like a cartoon when you see the cartoon character dive in the shallow end and their feet are still sticking up. I swear he stopped and his feet were still there and I was like, this isn’t going to end well."

"And he stands up, ‘Man I think I hit my head.’ And there’s blood just flowing. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, pretty sure you hit your head,'” he added.

According to Junior, the impact had left an 'X' shaped mark on his head. Interestingly, they went back from the hospital to the party and had a few more beers together.