Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says There’s A Closet Full Of Personal Items That Nobody Has Opened Since His Dad Died: “Maybe One Day”

I wonder why he hasn’t been able to get in there…

Of course, with the release of the new Prime Video series Earnhardt, which focuses on the life and legacy of the late, great NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, there’s been heightening interest in the family and naturally, some of the details of their personal life. 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.

It seems as though it’s been a huge hit, even with people who aren’t overly familiar with Dale Sr. or NASCAR, which is awesome, and I think the human interest aspect of it is extremely compelling, and something pretty much anyone can relate to.

One of the major points of interest is Dale’s marriage to his third wife Teresa, who is not exactly a well-liked character in the world of NASCAR to put it nicely… she infamously kept Dale Jr. from being part of Dale Earnhardt Inc. after Dale Sr’s tragic death at Daytona in 2001, and that’s just scratching the surface on some of the issues she’s had with others in the family, mostly between her and her step children.

It’s honestly really sad for Earnhardt kids that they have been put in this position in terms of all the public battles they’ve had with their stepmom, and while they do have a half sister named Taylor, who Teresa had with Dale, it’s unclear what their relationship is like because they never really speak about her publicly. I mean, Teresa was fighting with Dale Jr. and Kelley’s mom Brenda way back in the day…

And during a recent segment of his Dale Jr. Download podcast, where Jr. answers fan questions, one person asked a really interesting one:

“What’s one item of your dad’s that you don’t have, but wish you did?”

Jr. revealed that there’s actually a closet that’s been sealed off since his father died, which holds some of his most prized personal items, including his gun collection, and Jr. said he’d love to be able to go in there and look at everything. He mentioned wanting a gun that Ralph, Sr.’s father and Jr.’s grandfather, had possibly given his dad that he would want, and I agree, that would be really dang cool.

There are even some of Dale’s old racing uniforms from way back in the day, and I’m sure there’s other stuff Jr. doesn’t even know about that would be cool to discover:

“Oh, man. I mean, I don’t know that there’s something that stands out. I really don’t know… You know, I guess if there was a rifle or a shotgun that Ralph had given him, that might be cool. Something that had been given to him by Ralph. That would be kind of neat. I’m sure, so, he had this closet where, nobody’s been in this closet since the day he passed away.

And so there’s a lot of stuff in there. That’s probably, if I could go to a space to take a look at what is physically there, that’s absolutely no question where I’d go. But yeah, there’s all kinds of stuff in that room. Old racing uniforms, and his gun collection, and all types of stuff like that.”

Jr. said it’s all his dad’s personal items, not memorabilia, and him and his sister Kelley’s military uniforms are in there from way back in the day. Jr. said it’s “not pressing,” but he’d love to “one day” get to go in there again and see it all again:

“It’s his own things, no memorabilia. I don’t want memorabilia. I mean, but it’s old uniforms, mine and Kelley’s military uniforms are in this closet. So some of our stuff is in there. I think Kelley’s stuff, some of her old racing uniforms are in there, as well. So it would be cool to see some of that stuff, or even get it. It’s not pressing, but maybe one day.”

I’m assuming this closet is located at Dale’s home in Mooresville, which Teresa still owns, and seeing as how the kids aren’t even allowed to visit their father’s grave on that land, it’s going to be a while before they’ll step foot in the house.

I have no idea if it’s realistic to think that one day they will be able to go back there, but they do have a half sibling named Taylor, who is Dale and Teresa’s daughter, that they talk about some in the documentary, but not much is known about her relationship with her other siblings.

It’s honestly just so sad to hear him talk about this stuff, because obviously, they should’ve already been able to have access to this stuff, especially their own personal belongings, but that’s simply not what happened and you can only hope that one day, that might change… I mean, to not have been able to look through any of your parents things after they died it just wrong, but Jr. seems to have a pretty good attitude about it, one that I certainly don’t think I would have.

I guess time really does heal all in some ways….

You can watch Jr. talk about it here:

The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says There’s A Closet Full Of Personal Items That Nobody Has Opened Since His Dad Died: “Maybe One Day” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.