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“Mom’s Gone” – Dale Jr Painfully Unravels Life’s Constant Loops
“Mom’s Gone” – Dale Jr Painfully Unravels Life’s Constant Loops
The world knows Dale Earnhardt Jr as one of the most loved NASCAR drivers and a Hall of Famer. However, once upon a time, the two-time Daytona 500 champion was a budding skater in the making. Taking a trip down memory lane, Dale Jr was reminded of his childhood when he used to visit the skating ring with his late mother. Reminiscing about it on the newest episode of the Dale Jr Download, Junior revealed how his life has changed since the good old days.
Dale Earnhardt Jr has come a long way in life. Following a glittering NASCAR career that saw him become a household name in the country, the 49-year-old has turned into a successful entrepreneur. The instance that brought back old memories was a visit with his daughters to the Skateland premises in North Carolina. Having been an enthusiastic kid like his daughters once upon a time, nostalgia hit him hard.
Dale Earnhardt Jr is surprised by how fast time flies by
Owing to a visit to his former town, Dale Jr learned that Skateland still exists after so many years. So naturally, a visit was due. But this time, he had a different companion. Visiting the skating ring with his daughters, the venue brought back some sentiments in him that had been long lost. Revealing more about it, Junior said, “Both of my girls had so much fun. They skated, and they had these little walker-type things to go skate with. I’m out there with both of them. I took them around too many laps, and it was so much fun.”
Speaking about his emotions on realizing the circle of life, Dale Earnhardt Jr stated, “It just blew my mind that the last time I was there, I was five or six. I’m there 44 years later with my five-year-old girl skating on that ring, and the place is just identical.”
“I’m super nostalgic. That was triggering me, and a great eighty percent were happy thoughts, but there was also some sadness. Mom is gone, and the times are different. I felt like I had poured it back to 1979.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr lost his mother, Brenda Lorraine Gee, to cancer in 2019. Despite having a struggle-filled childhood, Brenda had been an instrumental figure in the Earnhardt family and paved the way for Junior’s success as a driver and his evolution as a person. Thanks to her efforts, the NASCAR community witnessed a NASCAR legend’s rise to fame.
As the podcast continued, Dale Earnhardt Jr disclosed that the Skateland building had stayed the same for 44 years, except for moving a few blocks from its original location.
Dale Jr reminisces his days at Skateland USA
Speaking about how long he has stayed away from the skating ring, Junior said, “I’ve never been back to the skating ring since; any skating ring.” However, that changed when his luck took him to one of his daughter’s friend’s birthday parties near his hometown. Revealing his surprise upon getting to see one of his favorite childhood spots, Dale Earnhardt Jr continued,
“44 years later, somebody we know, their child is having a birthday party, and our kids were invited, so we were going to take them. I didn’t know Skateland still existed. I didn’t know the building and business were still there operating. We drive into the parking lot and I’m like, I’ve got an idea and imagination of what it looked like or where it might’ve been and I was a little bit off.”
“It’s a couple of blocks away from what it was. This building had changed. I took some photos and put it on my social media story. The size is the same, building’s the same, it is 50 years old. There’s a line outside to get in. You go up there, and you walk in, and it’s the same place that I hadn’t seen in 44 years,” added the former Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Dale Earnhardt Jr’s anecdotes often have an ulterior theme in them. As he looked back upon his skating days, he showed that people should learn to value the time they have with their loved ones.
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‘It won’t last forever’ – Max Verstappen warned about Red Bull downfall with Lewis Hamilton
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has warned that, while Max Verstappen is the current dominant force in Formula 1, “all good things come to an end.”
Verstappen has won 21 of the last 23 races and has broken the record for number of victories in a calendar year in each of the last two seasons, with 15 in 2022 and 19 last season, and has already taken to the top step four times out of five in 2024.
Max Verstappen dominance warning: ‘It won’t last forever’
Formula 1 can often be characterised by eras of driver and team dominance in the sport, with the likes of McLaren and Williams holding the sport under their control in the 1980s and ’90s, before Ferrari and Michael Schumacher were the outright force in the early 2000s, and Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel won four title doubles in a row before Mercedes took charge in the turbo hybrid era.
The switch to ground effect aerodynamics has seen Red Bull surge to the top once again, particularly in Verstappen’s hands, which has left 2021 title rival and seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton without a race win in 50 rounds.
Steiner made this point in comparing Verstappen’s success to Hamilton’s current barren run by his standards, but is also wary of the fact that these eras have a habit of ending abruptly.
“Red Bull and Max Verstappen are obviously doing a fantastic job right now. They are dominating,” Steiner wrote in a pre-Miami column for Formula1.com.
“I really respect Sergio Perez, he’s a very good driver – but he can’t get near Max right now. Max is on a different planet.
“He is already one of the greatest ever in his era, like Lewis Hamilton was a few years ago.
“When you’re on a wave like this, you have the confidence, you’re happy with life and nothing goes wrong.
“But all good things come to an end. It won’t last forever – just look at Lewis right now.
“It’s no surprise Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is interested in signing Max. Will Max leave Red Bull? He is in a good place.”
The next regulation reset in Formula 1 is coming in 2026, with the proposed power units bringing about a change in power to make the cars a 50/50 split between combustion and electric power in the hybrid engines, along with a switch to sustainable fuel.
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Alex Bowman’s angry radio exchange that caused trouble with Kyle Larson at Dover decoded by Corey
Alex Bowman’s angry radio exchange that caused trouble with Kyle Larson at Dover decoded by Corey
Alex Bowman had a decent day in Dover with a top-10 finish. But it didn’t come without some drama as Bowman and his spotter, Kevin Hamlin, exchanged some fiery words at one point in the race. Talking about this exchange between Bowman and his spotter, as well as the preceding incident between Bowman and Kyle Larson, Corey LaJoie took a shot at decoding the whole situation.
Speaking on his podcast Stacking Pennies, LaJoie discussed what happened between the two Hendrick drivers and the subsequent radio exchange between Bowman and his spotter.
“There was a little bit of beef apparently between the #48 and the #5. The #48 was having a good run up there in top 5,” LaJoie said.
The exchange, in the eyes of Ryan ‘Skip’ Flores, the co-host of Stacking Pennies, was simply Bowman being honest with the whole situation.
“He was mad at the #5 car air blocking him. The #5 was running for the stage win I believe. He’s mad at the #5 air blocking and he’s ‘expletive’ about it and (Kevin) Hamlin says go up there and pass him, he’s not gonna give it to you. And then he tried to pep talk him and Alex told him shove it,” Flores said.
In the end, LaJoie wrapped it up by claiming that what happened between Bowman and Larson and Bowman and his spotter was simply part of racing.
“Hey, it’s a very high-pressure situation. You feel like you’re in there riding around. You’d think your teammate of all people would air block you less, but hey, it’s racing man,” LaJoie said.
Speaking after the race, Alex Bowman was asked about his radio exchange with spotter Kevin Hamlin. During the race, Bowman made a sly remark on Larson, after which he received an earful from his spotter.
“He’s not gonna pull over for you. You’ve gotta go ‘expletive’ earn it, let’s go. #5 elbows up, let’s go. Dudes are gonna give you ‘expletive’ all day, you’ve just taken, you’ve done awesome, drive like an
‘expletive’ the rest of the race, stay locked in, *expletive* them all let’s
go,” Kevin Hamlin told his driver. [00:12]
In response, Bowman asked his spotter to just let him focus on the race. After the race, when asked about his exchange with Kevin, Alex Bowman simply refused to elaborate on it.
“No. I don’t have any clickbait for you there, buddy,” he said (via Frontstretch).
As for his race result, Bowman opined that it wasn’t “the greatest” but they’ll move on to the next one.
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NASCAR Issues: Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are at again
Though Hendrick Motorsports couldn’t figure out a way to win in Dover on Sunday, it had a remarkable race day. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott both finished inside the top-5 after starting from outside the top-20. At the end of the 400 laps on the Monster Mile, Larson retained his lead at the top of the points table and Elliott sat third.
The race began for Larson from 21st place in the #5 Chevrolet Camaro. Refusing to idle around, he found his way into the top 10 as early as Lap 53. He broke into the top 5 on Lap 107 and finished Stage 1 in 5th place. Crew Chief Cliff Daniels made the call to bring Larson to the pit ahead of most others and kickstarted a play that worked out splendidly.
Larson ended up winning Stage 2. From there, a long cat and mouse game went down between him and Denny Hamlin. Courtesy of quicker pit stops, better restarts, and the aero-block advantage, Hamlin managed to pull ahead and stay there. “I was trying all sorts of different angles and speeds. Nothing could generate enough speed to get close enough to do anything,” Larson said after the race.
Ultimately, he finished as the runner-up, a mere 0.256 seconds behind Hamlin. The result was his second runner-up finish of the year. He led 39 laps throughout the race bringing his 2024 total to 570, highest in the grid. Putting up an almost equal caliber of performance from behind the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro was Chase Elliott.
The 2020 Cup Series champion started his campaign from further behind Larson, in 29th place. He cut open the top-10 on Lap 70 and finished Stage 1 in 9th place. Despite having an early scare when his car hit the wall, the run continued as he maintained a top-10 spot throughout Stage 2. He finished the stage in 5th place after passing Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch, the same spot in which he finished his race.
How did William Byron and Alex Bowman fare in Dover?
Byron started his race in 3rd place. After leading for a brief while in Stage 1, he finished in 2nd place. Midway through Stage 2, he complained of feeling “a little too tight center of (turns) three and four.” Subsequently, he was pitted on Lap 183. Tragedy struck as his car fell off the jack before the stop was complete and he lost significant time on the road.
In the final stage, he got caught in a multi-car incident involving Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, and Zane Smith. The chaos ended his day and he finished in 33rd place. The result ended his five-race top-10 streak. Alex Bowman had a better day than Byron. He started the race from 9th position and finished 8th. He displayed strong speed midway through the race but the balance on his car began taking a hit towards race end.
“It was still a good points day and a step in the right direction,” he said after his fourth straight top-10 finish in Dover. “It’s a little more consistent than we’ve seen, so hopefully we can keep plugging away at it.” The next event on the schedule for Rick Hendrick’s men is at the Kansas Speedway. The 12th race of the ongoing season will go down on May 5.
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