Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had a storied 19-year career in the NASCAR Cup Series, had a need for speed well before he reached that level.
The popular former driver, who’s spent the years since his 2017 retirement working as a NASCAR broadcaster, podcaster, and businessman, appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show Tuesday. He told Clarkson he got a number of speeding tickets as a teen driver.
“I had a few issues in the first two years of having my license, from 16 to 18,” Earnhardt Jr. said (via Anna Lazarus Caplan, Yahoo.com). “I got four tickets, and the funny thing about it is, is that it was four different officers that told me they all gave my dad his first ticket, so I don’t know how that is possible.”
Dale Earnhardt Sr., of course, grew up in the same small town (Kannapolis, North Carolina) before going on to win seven NASCAR Cup Series championships.
Junior appeared on Clarkson’s show to promote his new Netflix docuseries NASCAR: Full Speed, which gives an all-access look at the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Earnhardt Jr. is the executive producer.
The former driver revealed in early February that his NBC broadcast contract expired at the end of last year, but he’s already “had some great conversations with all of NASCAR’s TV partners.”
It seems a given Earnhardt Jr. will land another prominent role in the sport. He won the Most Popular Driver Award 15 times and retains a huge fan following.
But he has learned to slow down to avoid speeding tickets.
“I learned my lesson,” Earnhardt Jr. told Clarkson. “I haven’t had any problems since then.”
