Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says His Stepmother, Teresa, Told Him It Was “Selfish” To Miss His Father Shortly After He Passed Away

What kind of a person says something like that?

Especially considering that she had just lost a husband, and four people lost a father… I mean, it’s absolutely no secret that the Earnhardt kids and their stepmother, Teresa, don’t see eye to eye and never really have, and it’s not hard to imagine why when you hear stuff like this.

Last week, Prime Video premiered the first two episodes of their four-part series Earnhardt, which focuses on the life and legacy of the late, great Dale Earnhardt. Featuring interviews from Dale’s friends, family, and obviously his son, Dale Jr., the documentary also features never-before-seen footage of Dale during his racing career from both his personal and professional life.

It’s an incredibly interesting, and nuanced, look at Dale Earnhardt the race car driver, the man, the friend and the father, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  and his sister Kelley played a huge part in the production of the series, in addition to being heavily featured in it, telling stories about their dad and memories that were both good and bad. They’ve talked about their stepmom quite a bit, and how their relationship has evolved over the years.

Of course, if you know anything about the Earnhardt’s or NASCAR, you’ve probably heard a lot about how much fans strongly dislike her, and her relationship with Dale’s kids Kerry, Dale Jr. and Kelley is strained, at the absolute best. Teresa and Dale Sr. had one child together, Taylor Nicole, who they talk about some in the doc, but she stays out of the spotlight and has rarely made public comments about either of her parents.

It’s a recent article from the Washington Post, though, that really gives us a glimpse into just how bad things are between Teresa and her stepchildren. At the time of Dale’s death, he hadn’t updated his will since 1992, when Dale Jr. was just 18 years old. And it transferred his entire estate to his wife Teresa, including not only the rights to his name and likeness but his race team, trademarks, and all things Dale Earnhardt.

Kelly Earnhardt-Miller says that after Dale’s death, Teresa didn’t invite the children to look through Dale’s possessions, which obviously included sentimental family photos and items from their own childhood. And they also weren’t given any input into Dale’s funeral or his final resting place. Instead, Teresa opted to have Dale buried at his estate in Mooresville, North Carolina, in a mausoleum located on what was now Teresa’s property.

The children were invited to view Dale’s grave after he was interred – but they haven’t been allowed back since.

Kelley says that it’s understood that they’re not welcome to visit:

“She’s so extreme that we might get arrested.”

Earnhardt Jr., however, admits that he may have visited the site once more – although it wasn’t by invitation and was fueled by what he said was some “liquid courage.” It’s just disgusting, and wrong, regardless of how she might feel about her stepchildren, that she doesn’t allow them to visit the site where their dad is buried.

Dale Jr. admits in the documentary that he and Teresa butted heads a lot when he was young, too, when his dad would be traveling for work and she was left home with two young kids, that weren’t hers, to care for. Dale and Kelley lived with their mom, Brenda, until they were 8 and 10, when her house in Kannapolis burned down and she moved to Virginia for work. She had little money as it was, so Dale Sr. wanted the kids to come live with him and Teresa, something Teresa wasn’t expecting and it definitely changed their family dynamic.

But it was what Teresa said to Dale Jr. not long at all after his dad died that has stuck with him. He remembered a conversation where Teresa told him it was “selfish” to miss someone who has died, because that’s “for you,” not them.

Of course, it’s completely natural and normal to be sad, and deeply miss, a parent… it’s incredibly strange, and downright mean, to tell someone they’re selfish for doing so, especially considering this was very close to the time of Dale Sr.’s death.

I’m sure they were all going through a lot, but this is a WILD thing to say. Someone just lost their dad and this is what you tell them? Just heartless:

“Teresa said something really interesting one day very recently after he passed away… she said that missing someone you love is selfish, because you want them there for you. I always kind of kept that in the back of my mind. It made me try not to be selfish… But I do miss him. God, I wish he was here for me. I want him. I want to hug him. I want to talk to him, and I need him.”

I just can’t imagine… even if they don’t love each other, and didn’t have a close relationship, you’d think during a time like what they went through after Dale Sr. passed that everyone would be a little kinder to each other.

Dale Jr. explained that it was pretty par for the course for them, though, because they never got along, really:

When I was a kid, man, me and Teresa, we’d butt heads hard… We were sprung into her life… and she’s gotta adjust her expectations of her future with Dad.”

I just find it so hard to give Teresa the benefit of the doubt, and in addition to so many other public battles that paint her in an extremely negative light, it’s really hard. She comes across as so cold and heartless, and what she’s done to Dale Sr.’s kids is just gross.

Aside from Dale Jr.’s battle with his stepmom over his dad’s race team, which he wanted control over after his dad died to no avail, Teresa also filed a lawsuit against Kerry over his use of the Earnhardt name when Kerry announced plans to roll out a line of homes and furniture called “The Earnhardt Collection.”

Then there was also the commercial that Budweiser released to honor Earnhardt Jr. before his last race in the Cup Series. Fans quickly noticed that the commercial didn’t feature Jr.’s #8 on the car, or any of the trademarks of Dale’s DEI car that are still owned by Teresa, leading many to assume that Teresa refused to allow Budweiser to use the DEI trademarks in honoring Dale Jr. More recently, she’s been trying to sell her late husbands beloved land in Mooresville so an industrial park can be built, which has locals extremely, and rightfully, upset about many different aspects of that decision, most importantly the fact that Dale loved that land and it was his safe haven.

There’s honestly a lot more that’s gone on over the years, but it’s really just sad to see how she treated them and how much they’ve gone through only trying to protect and promote their father’s legacy. I can’t imagine telling someone who lost their dad so tragically and suddenly that their being “selfish” for being sad over the death, but I think it goes to show the kind of person she is and obviously, the type of relationship she and Dale Jr. in particular have always had.

I hate it for all of his kids so much, and I just know Dale Sr. would hate to see what’s going on between all of them in the years since he died. It’s a real shame, and Teresa should be ashamed of how she has treated them and put them through.

The relationships and dynamics are all so complicated, and Jr. and Kelley give such great insight into their dad and their lives as kids, so I can’t recommend highly enough watch the entire four-episode Earnhardt series as well. The first two episodes are streaming now on Prime Video.

The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says His Stepmother, Teresa, Told Him It Was “Selfish” To Miss His Father Shortly After He Passed Away first appeared on Whiskey Riff.