"I hated her for it": Dale Earnhardt Jr. admits to misjduging stepmother Teresa's efforts as a child

On the latest episode of the Bless Your Hardt podcast, former NASCAR star driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife, Amy Earnhardt, opened up about Dale Jr.'s 'dynamic' relationship with his stepmother, Teresa. Earnhardt Jr. explained the same, recalling how he misjudged his stepmother.

Brenda Gee was the mother of Dale Jr. and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt-Miller. However, the couple separated soon after Junior was born in 1974. The brother-sister duo lived with their mother initially, but after a fire destroyed their home, they moved to their father's residence in 1981. A year later, Dale Sr. tied the knot for the second time with Teresa Huston in 1982.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent a large part of his life around Teresa and recalled how his stepmother used to forcefully feed him. Following that, Dale Jr. explained [40:30 onwards]:

"Teresa and I had a dynamic relationship. And you know, when I think about when I think back, there was a long period of my adult life where I put it all on Teresa and was like, you know, it was her; it was bad because it was her fault. And as I've gotten older, and especially now that I've had kids, like trying to get our kids to eat stuff, sometimes it's impossible."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. further cited an example of chicken pot pie. He claimed he would 'tear up' for now, but when his stepmother gave it to him, he 'hated' her for that. He added:

"But she put it in front of me and I would refuse to eat it. And I hated her for it, you know. In in my mind, she's making me eat something she knows I don't like, and she's making me do it because she knows I don't like it, right? She's not She's not sitting. She's just trying to have control. She's just trying to put food in front of me."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. pointed out that his perspective on his stepmother changed as he grew older and became a father himself. He claimed that he understood that Teresa was just trying to feed him and not making him do things he didn't like.

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"I have a lot of trust in her around those things": Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares his thoughts on his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt

Former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. got hold of his iconic #8 DEI font after his stepmother decided to drop the trademark. Following that, during an episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Earnhardt Jr. appreciated one of his stepmother Teresa's business decisions.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame driver spoke of Teresa and called her a smart and business-savvy woman. He added:

"There’s one thing I’ll say about Teresa is in terms of owning a trademark and protecting things like that, protecting our legacy and our family name, I have a lot of trust in her around those things. She’s very smart, very savvy, always thinking, she takes emotion out of business decisions and says ‘this is what’s fair, this is what’s right.’" [26:52 onwards]

After Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed away in a horrific accident, Teresa got hold of Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI). Following that, Dale Jr. and his stepmother had conflicts over the ownership of the team. However, the former Cup Series driver left the team and joined Hendrick Motorsports before DEI's operations ceased ahead of the 2009 season under Teresa's command.