Dale Earnhardt Jr. Had Giants WR, Malik Nabers, Praying To God During Race Track Ride Along

One could describe New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers as a speedster.

The talented wide-out from LSU had quite the rookie year in the NFL, hauling in 109 receptions for a total 1,204 yards and 7 touchdowns. Considering the Giants’ QB situation last year (should be improved this year?), those are some truly incredible numbers from Nabers.

The 21-year-old football standout makes a living being fast… and catching the pigskin, of course. When he sat down with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for an interview recently – as a part of a new interview series called “Taking Laps with Dale Earnhardt Jr.” – Nabers talked about how speed has mattered at every level of football he’s played at thus far:

“The speed of the game was faster when I went from high school to college. The speed from college to the NFL was way faster than both of those because you have to be on your p’s and q’s more in the NFL. In college, they are okay with you making mistakes. In the league, it’ll get you fired.”

And speaking of speed…

This interview wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill sit down conversation. Nabers and Earnhardt Jr. were sitting down, but they just so happened to be inside a souped-up sports car that Dale Jr. was zipping around Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s like Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee… only a whole lot faster.

Though Nabers has long been one of the fastest men out on the gridiron, he wasn’t exactly prepared to be going race-car-speed during the interview. The New York Giant gave a lot of interesting tidbits in the beginning of the interview, but when Dale Jr. said he was going to speed things up, Nabers got quiet:

“We’ve been going around at about 80 miles per hour. Maybe 85 miles per hour. We’ve got one more minute before they are gonna make us get off the track. So I’m gonna crank it up just a little bit, alright? We might be able to go a little bit faster.”

As Dale Jr. brought the car up to a higher and higher speed, Nabers suddenly started bracing himself, and his answers and questions became more condensed. While Nabers was grabbing onto the safety handle, he did manage to ask Dale how long he had been driving (he probably asked it in hopes of being comforted by Dale’s answer):

“So my dad raced his whole career, (and so did) my grandfather. I grew up in racing. I started driving as a little kid. And I raced in the NASCAR series for about 25 years. I retired from full-time in 2017, and I got into broadcasting. I grew up in all of this stuff, and I can’t imagine not ever going to the race track.”

Can’t wait for you to see Malik’s face while Dale Jr. is giving that answer.

And the funny thing was… Dale Earnhardt Jr. was still only pushing the car to around 120 miles per hour. When Dale told Nabers that he was going to try and push it up to 130, the wide receiver inquired about how fast NASCAR drivers normally go. Dale Jr. happily shared that information as Nabers prayed to the Lord from the passenger seat:

“They go about 50 miles per hour faster than that. In the race tomorrow, they’re gonna go about 180 or 190 miles per hour. And they’ll be three-wide. There will be a car on the bottom, middle and top – inches apart. It’s insane.” 

All I’m saying is… if I were a New York Giants fan, I would have been watching that interview with clenched teeth. I trust Dale Jr. and his driving, but that’s the entirety of the Giants’ future sitting in the passenger seat. Maybe next time they could just have a quick chat in pit row?The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. Had Giants WR, Malik Nabers, Praying To God During Race Track Ride Along first appeared on Whiskey Riff.