“I was like, ‘I thought my racing career is over’”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. vividly recalls an unflinching lesson from his ‘father-son talk’ with Dale Sr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reflected on a vivid memory from his early days in NASCAR in the Earnhardt documentary, which recently premiered on Prime. He recalled the lessons learned from his father-son talk with Dale Earnhardt Sr., a moment that had a lasting impact on him and changed the way he approached racing.

The third episode of the documentary covers Dale Jr.'s early career in NASCAR. He had a tough relationship with his dad, as the seven-time champion wasn't confident about his son's chances of becoming a racer. However, one particular interaction between the father and son helped mould Dale Jr. into a better racer.

Early in his Busch Series career, Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed his car during a practice session. His confidence was shattered, and he believed his career was over before it had truly begun. While he sulked and drowned his sorrows with his buddies, unbeknownst to him, his team was fixing the car.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. stormed into the room, as Junior's friends scattered away, leading to a one-on-one conversation with his son. The Intimidator asked his son to contemplate why he felt sorry for himself when he should have been helping the team fix the car. Dale Jr. recalled the conversation on the Prime Documentary:

"The door flies open on this double-wide trailer I lived in. Boom, boom. I know immediately those are dad’s footsteps. He looks over at my buddies that are sitting over there, and he goes, ‘get the f**k off my property."

"He goes, ‘Man, what are you doing?’ I was like, ‘I thought my racing career is over.’ He’s like, ‘no, they’re gonna fix that car. That’s where you should be. You should be wanting to fix your car. Where is that? Where is that inside of you? What’s missing in you that you thought to come over here and sit on your ass and feel sorry for yourself?’ That was the one father-son talk that we had that sunk in."

The first two episodes of the series were released on May 22, before the Coca-Cola 600. The final two episodes of the four-part documentary were released on May 29. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be on the Prime broadcast for four more Cup races this season.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals motive behind Earnhardt documentary

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt's career has been well documented, with numerous documentaries covering his racing career and his larger-than-life personality. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that the new Prime documentary will introduce the seven-time champion to the younger generation and help the newer fans understand the legend surrounding 'The Intimidator'.

In a recent interview with USA Today Sports, the 50-year-old NASCAR Hall of Famer said:

"I wanted to introduce dad and his greatness to a generation of fans that hadn't seen him race or didn't understand why he was so loved or appreciated. We are 25 years, roughly, removed from his passing and there's just a lot of fans out there that are new fans of NASCAR, that don't what he is all about." [0:25 onwards]

The Earnhardt documentary consists of four episodes, each with a run time of one hour. The first episode, titled 'Ironhead', covers his first championship and move to Richard Childress Racing. The second episode, titled 'The Intimidator', covers his journey to equal Richard Petty's seven championships.

Episode 3, titled 'One Tough Customer', covers the family dynamics and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s foray into racing. The final episode, titled 'Dale', covers the fateful 2001 Daytona 500 and the fatal crash that left a lasting impact on the sport.