One-on-one: A talk with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Driver discusses life and relationships, his father and his other heroes - and 'The Office'

DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

Wednesday, May. 21, 2008

Dale Earnhardt Jr. comes into Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 looking for his first points-race victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway, the track just a few miles from where he grew up and where he still lives.

Much has been written about his move from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports. Now 33, he continues to try to make his mark in a sport his father, seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, helped define.

On Saturday afternoon, a few hours before he competed in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, he talked with Observer motorsports writer David Poole about how he's doing, who he might be once the driving days are done and what the world might be like when he gets there:

Q. In a conversation recently with Lowe's Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler, he said you are the most "complicated uncomplicated guy" he knows of. What he meant by that was you're a guy who has a fairly complicated life, and with all you have to do and where you have to go, you've managed to keep - as close as anybody could - things relatively simple. Is that a fair assessment?

A. I don't really know how to explain it, but I will try my best.

With everything that has happened to me, with my dad - even before his death and how complicated that relationship was - going through his death and through the last several years with DEI and the move to Rick's (Hendrick Motorsports), it seems that a lot of things that have happened to me have come out of left field. Just unforeseen. I guess to keep from going insane and to keep from asking yourself a million questions ...

Q. The "why me" questions?

A. Yeah. You just kind of go with it and go with the flow. You definitely make the best of the situation, but that's pretty easy because most of my situations have been pretty good.

But, yeah, I've wondered a lot of times why Daddy had to die, why such a great man had to go away and had to leave. Then you get to the team change and you wonder, 'Why am I even in this situation? Why do I have to have this responsibility?' I don't even want the responsibility of making this decision yet, but I have to make it and I have to take what comes with it.

With all of that going on, you have to show up every week in front of everybody. Nobody really comes out and says what they feel about it, so you sit there and go through the garage and wonder about what everybody's perception of you is. Then I have my sister and my company on its own accord trying to do good things. Those things take time out of my schedule, too.

Half of me goes, 'Man, I just want to shut everything down that's not necessary and just concentrate on driving the car, just like it was when I first got here.' But the other part of you looks at other athletes and other people in similar situations with those type of opportunities, you always hear the phrase 'Ride the bull while it’s bucking.'

Something tells me that if I don't get involved in the things that make my life more complicated, if I don't do a lot of these things, I might turn around at 50 and go, 'Man, I am bored. Why didn't I do some of those things I could have done? Life could have been more fun, more intricate and more complex. Here I am at 50 with really not enough to keep my hands full.'

Q. So you have to balance that desire to make things easier today with the knowledge you have to prepare for the future?

A. I'd rather just not do anything but drive the Cup car. Part of that is laziness and part of it is just wanting to make sure I am concentrating on that and make sure I am giving myself the best opportunity.

Q. You've seen these computer-generated murals where they take a couple hundred little photos and put them together in a way that puts together a larger picture. It's my idea that a lot of people look at your life and all they're seeing is a few of those little pictures without having any real view of the larger picture.

A. What I want and what my job is and what its requirements are day to day aren't all that different. Rick (Hendrick) works a lot harder than I do. Tiger Woods and other athletes do as much or more (than) I have to do.

But I am happy with my life being as simple as it can possibly be, where other people strive to reach Hollywood and South Beach and strive to get into that group or some plateau in society. I am pretty happy with where I am and where I have been. It's a little bit of a tug of war. You have these opportunities to do candy bars and race tracks and Nationwide teams; it's a tug of war personally for me to do them. I do them for different reasons.

Some people might do them because it elevates their status and it takes them to new places and they dress in different clothes and own different material things. For me it's all about having fun, relaxing and having success with it. If you fail you fail.

I didn't start the Nationwide team with aspirations of being Hendrick Motorsports. If it happens it happens, but that team was started because if we win a race I get to go to Victory Lane and see (Nationwide crew chief ) Tony (Eury) Sr. happy, and we can look at each other and say we did it together. That's the only reason.

A lot of people say if you do this and this and this you can go stand in front of people in New York and brag about it or climb another level of society. That doesn't drive me, that's not why I do it. So when we are successful I don't want to be pushed in front of that group, because that's not where I am comfortable.

I am too busy, at times. At times, it's decent. The thing about my past several seasons, and I really don't know any way to control it, but I am pretty good for a little while and then there will be two months where every dang body in the world has something they need you to do - and everybody wants it on the same day. It happens every year.

Every year there's a month that’s miserable - we might just be coming out of the back end of one. If you were sitting here with me in the middle of July I would probably be saying everything's gold. Right now, we're busy as hell.

Q. Most of the people who are really close to you are people you've known for a long, long time. That's true for a lot of people, I suppose, but do you find it hard to let new people in? Are you guarded with people, concerned that it might be about them wanting to be part of some kind of "entourage" that some athletes struggle with?

A. I have to spend a couple years with a person, constantly being around them, for it to get to where I want them to be around and let them know the real personal stuff about me. With the way things are now I don't have many opportunities to do that - nor do I necessarily want it.

The people I know and the people I trust are people I've known a long time. I don't see myself building those type of relationships with any regularity over the next several years.

The thing about the people I do know and who I am close with is they don't hover over me or pry into everything I am doing or sit around waiting for things to happen. They know me well enough to know that it's not a bed of roses.

We do some fun things from time to time and we go on trips and stuff, but they rarely hang around during race season because they know it's a pain. It's fun to see a race, but other than that, with everything else we do, they know there's no reason to be there. It's just not fun. They don't come hang out at photo shoots. I don't really see them.

The relationships I have were built from being around each other for years. You get that and it's all you need.

Q. When I hear you say that, though, one thing I think of almost immediately is that you're still single. I imagine finding that right person would be extremely complicated. Do you find yourself worrying about that?

A. I know it's more difficult. I don't worry about it, but I know it's real complicated. I am not the best at relationships. When it comes to relationships I am pretty selfish about doing what I want to do. I am just selfish about it.

We're so busy during the week, if I get a night where I have a couple of hours, I might not even want to spend it with that person because I haven't had any time to myself.

Q. And God forbid that person would have some kind of activity or interest they want you to be part of.

A. That'd be impossible.

So it's challenging. I don't know how some of the drivers make it work. The difference I see with me and my friends is they're willing to devote the time and I am just not. I am not willing to devote the necessary personal time into it, so a lot of time that's challenging for the girl and she isn't enjoying herself. She's wondering why we haven't seen each other in a week.

Q. You've been able to do a lot of things a young man living in Mooresville would never get to do - met people, done things, been places. You've always seemed to appreciate it. But there are limitations that brings, aren't there? And I don't hear you complain about not being able to go to a mall or go with your buddies to a restaurant. Maybe that's because you still do those things more than I might think.

A. I just go. I go to the mall. You have to be smart about it. Like I won't go into Whisky River (His new bar in uptown Charlotte) tonight. It'll be a madhouse. You have to be a little smart about it, but that doesn't really bother me. I'd like to go, but it'd be so crazy I don't even know if I'd enjoy it. But I will go to the shop and go to lunch with (Cup crew chief) Tony (Eury) Jr. and those guys.

When people see a popular singer or movie star in a restaurant they might seek them out for an autograph. I might even do that. But when they see us they know who we are and know what we do and know that we're popular, but it doesn't get to the kind of deal that actors and singers have to deal with. We just sit there and eat.

Q. You don't get mobbed?

A. No. Even as popular as I am. I think that's just the way racing is. People just seem to drive on home and tell somebody they saw you instead of coming up and bothering you.

Q. What's the most fun you've had in one day outside of a race car?

A. I've got 70 acres over at my house, with a lot of trails - I mean a lot trails cut on it. It's all wooded area. Riding the four-wheeler through there is just so much fun for me. I don't know why. It's about as disconnected as I can get without leaving town. I get away from everything that's going on. I enjoy that a lot.

We have a little campground we've built there and I enjoy that. I like going out on the lake in my houseboat. Those are the fun things for me.

Q. You went to Australia last winter. That's pretty disconnected.

A. I wouldn't say my trip to Australia was as much fun as being on the houseboat, because we'd party all night and the next day you felt it all day. So, you can't say that was the most fun day even if the party was fun.

I went over there and I could walk out on the street and nobody would look at you and say, 'Is that who I think it is?' There wasn't even that. When you go somewhere around in the States, that's on your mind whether anybody actually recognizes you or not. It's still on your mind, because you're used to it. I knew that would not happen in Australia, and the freedom of that was so nice.

Q. Do you have an avatar?

A. An avatar, like online?

Q. Yes.

A. I have one, it's my number. My avatar on instant messenger is a Washington Redskins football helmet.

Q. I mean like a character that represents you. What made me think about it was an episode of "The Office" where Jim had this avatar that had its own "life story" built up around it. If you had a character like that from some kind of simulation game, what would it be like? What characteristics would it have?

A. My avatar would be "Murdoch" from "The A-Team." Remember him? The crazy dude? That would be my guy. "The Office" is the greatest show ever. I love it. Remember when "Cheers" and maybe "Seinfeld" ruled the world? "The Office" is like that to me. I would give up everything I have today to go be in that office, I don't care what job it was, I would do it. I would, I would sell paper in Scranton.

Q. I was going to ask you if you had come across any new fascinations in life, like mixed martial arts or Formula One, anything like that. Is "The Office" it?

A. That's it. It's not necessarily new; I've been watching it since the first season, but that rules my world.

Q. I know you're on the Internet a lot and you have to see things and read things about you and your life and your career that are just downright ugly. The only time I've seen you get really mad about things, though, is when it's about somebody else you don't feel is being treated right, maybe somebody in the family.

I can't imagine some of the things you see about yourself, but that doesn't seem to get you all fired up.

A. Some things hurt your feelings but I don't get angry. When I read things about my dad that are wrong, or if I feel somebody is unfairly attacking Teresa (Earnhardt, his stepmother) or Taylor or Kelley (his sisters), especially, you have to voice your opinion. They don't have the platform to do it. I am their best defense.

When I first started racing in the Busch Series I read a lot of things. Nobody really knew much about how I got there. Everybody assumed one thing or another. I got used to it then.

I always go back to this in just about every scenario that happens to me in racing. People ask me why something doesn't bother me or how I handled certain things, but I grew up watching every move that Daddy made, and they wrote a lot of stuff about him. They maybe were not as brutal as they can be nowadays.

Q. They seem more personal.

A. Yeah, they are more personal, and that's just how the world has turned. Everybody is willing to be a little more ruthless. But there were still pros and cons about my dad. I'd go to school and there were people who were fans and people who hated him. You'd hear it from each side. You knew it was going to happen and you got used to it. It doesn't bother me.

I am pretty sure I am a good person, that I am genuine and that I care about people. I think I am generous and do good things. I try to live by the code. I do things trying to get to heaven. I've been like that since I was a little kid.

Q. I had a Southern mama, too. I always found myself thinking, 'OK, if mama saw me doing this, how mad would she get?'

A. My mom is my biggest fan. She's watching everything and normally she has the best take on everything. I can go home and say, 'Man, what was right or wrong about that?' She’s going to be a little biased, but she has the best take. And you do find yourself conscious of trying not to embarrass her by doing something outlandish or saying things that will embarrass her. She carries the flag for you all the time. She's your biggest supporter.

Q. Sometimes a guy might not get credit or accolades for being a driver because he's got some other role. A Jeff Burton, for instance, might not get credit for finishing all of the laps so far this year because he's so good at talking about issues in the sport. That pigeonhole that people do to you is 'most popular.' I would think you want to be known for being a heck of a driver as much as you do for having a lot of fans.

A. I wouldn't trade that away, right now. I believe I will eventually get credit for my talent as a driver. So I would be foolish to make that trade - I've made a lot of fool's trades, and that would be another one.

Q. You mentioned your father and this is probably a ridiculous question to ask because it's so hard to do, but if you hadn't had such a strong influence like him to model yourself after, are there people in the sport you admire and would have maybe taken from as you got into NASCAR?

A. Cale Yarborough. I have always admired his style in and out of the race car. I felt like he was fair and did it right. He never let anybody get the best of him.

Dale Jarrett, more recently, was always a high-road type of guy with a lot of respect from a lot of different people. He handles everything the way it seems you should handle everything.

Bobby Labonte, too. You know, Bobby is a little bit more of an introvert and not many people know his true personality. He is a really unique, funny guy with a lot of determination and a lot of will.

But for me, if my father isn't in the picture, Cale was the top guy.

Q. If you have a son, would you encourage or discourage him to try racing?

A. I would encourage it. I would know better than to force him into it, I guess, but I certainly would give him every opportunity, without a doubt. With the knowledge I have of getting in and going through and doing this deal, I think he would have a good opportunity and I could help him understand being grounded and dealing with things.

With the knowledge of my past along with my father and grandfather, he would have such an opportunity.

Q. You're ranked fairly high on most lists of the most powerful people in the sport, but you've said before you don't think your popularity really translates well into actual power.

A. I think that on the surface it appears there is a lot of power there. But when you get down into the engine room and you're pulling levers and trying to make something happen, it's not quite as easy and there's not quite as much influence.

If I went into the office and told Mike Helton (NASCAR president) an opinion about the car of tomorrow or a certain race track or whatever, I think that'd be judged equally with just about any other driver.

Q. They trusted your father more, didn't they?

A. I think they trust me, but yet he was so immersed in the sport. They knew it. If he had lived, Dad would have a huge influence past his driving, maybe as an owner (or) maybe, eventually, as a director or manager of the sport itself.

Who knows what would have happened? He would have been great for the position. I think tha'’s why they were willing to listen to him, because he knew what was best.

I don't have that. I am not perceived that way.

Maybe I have it, and over time the power I do have will still be there and I will get better at utilizing it as I get older. I'll get smarter at how it's used and how I can get people to listen.

People still consider me young even though I am 33. It's just going to take time.

Q. Some drivers act like they're not even aware there's a world out beyond the walls of the race track sometimes. Do you have, for lack of a better word, a "world view?" Do you care about politics? What's your take on all that goes on around us in this world?

A. I think that's something that's different about me. I do try really hard to stay up on current events. I watch the Military Channel and the History Channel, stuff like that. I am interested in and following the presidential race and trying to understand it. I don't pretend to know anything about it, but I try to understand what we're trying to accomplish and what's best for us, what our problems are and how we can fix them.

For some reason I feel like it's more important than it used to be. It's real easy to think, 'All I've got to do is take care of what I have to take care of and make sure my life is good and take care of my family.' But I think it's important not to caught blinded and not to be sucker-punched.

If you're aware of what's going on and how things have happened to get us where we are today through history, I feel more prepared for what's next. We don't know what's next, but the more I know the better prepared I am and the more maybe I will understand it.

I have a friend of mine who is way, way over the top on history and politics and stuff like that. I don't want to get like that, but it did make me want to invest some thought into it. We seem to be coming up on some really important decisions in the next 20 years - really important. I want to be as intelligent about that as I can, so that when it's happening I will know what's best for me and my family and friends.

They might not know why something is happening and how we got there, and I can be the guy who says, 'This is the way we need to go, guys.'