Kelley Earnhardt talks growing up in the Earnhardt family | Coffee with Kyle | Motorsports on NBC

May 29, 2021

when we lost his father. I was in a situation in every action at that time. Now they've bought us out and you know, everyone's clamoring for the product, clamoring for stuffed Reese's in the middle of the autopsy, problems with that and she's not paying attention because she can't, you know, the licensing business and I I'm in these meetings and it's like you know we really tried to do this and I could ask my dad if he's my

family

. I knew Dale's interest wouldn't be attended to as closely as they would, yeah, so I begged him for months and I said, I know let me go work for you Let me go work for you let me come work for you so I ended up going to work for him in August of 2001.

Look, I think that's what fascinates me and I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but my grandfather started small businesses and then my father came and I ran there and took the reins and ran it and then drove to Felix and then I started pe2 which was also Petty Enterprises and because I wanted a place for Adam to come and then eventually I turned it back into small businesses and then the Adams accident happens so things started but for me It was like when your father started with Dei. I looked at it and said, oh, this is a new insignificant process, yes, this is a generational thing, but it didn't happen that way, why?

More Interesting Facts About,

kelley earnhardt talks growing up in the earnhardt family coffee with kyle motorsports on nbc...

It didn't happen that way because he was gone, I mean, yeah, it would have, but I mean we were always running into headwinds with the tree for whatever reason, you know, I can't, I can make assumptions, but I don't know which one. is the The problem was that I know she was a young mother, you know, becoming a stepmother, two children who were more than half her age, that has to be different. You know, then you have a husband who gets all this notoriety, all this fame and attention and everything, and they. They're building their own thing and doing their own thing, so I don't really know why she didn't want us to be a part of it, but she didn't mean that on Point Blank she didn't do everything we tried. do or do dad was the glue that always held everything together and for her, you know, she I just want to say that everything with her is an uphill battle, yeah, and everything with her is not just with us, it's with everyone, it's everything about the sport that you don't know anything about it?

You don't see things that happen with my dad and just that legacy. Yeah, you know that and I think that's why, from a Junior Motorsports standpoint, Dale and I are so passionate. because that's where the person who has fired the most people is still, you're Dale Jr. There's very few he's with, yeah, yeah, I don't see him sitting there, yeah, yeah, that's what my dad is, my dad, I used to have to tell my dad and Dale wants to be the good guy and everything What do you know, but with reason. and it's okay, I always tell him, but let me be the bad boy, you know, I don't have to stand out in front of people and talk to people that I would say I used to tell my guys when you let someone go because you didn't do the work for the one you hired, that's one thing, but when you didn't do the job that I find in sponsorship or you didn't do the things that you were supposed to do, it's hard to sit across from someone that I had to stop. in front of 21 people in 2000 9 and tell them that they no longer had a job, yes, that is difficult, extremely difficult, yes, so now every decision that you make before you you think about how you are going to sustain it, can you sustain it?

Do you know when? we went four cars, how long can we be a four car team? Because it is a group of people that you have to put in place, they are resources that you have to spend to make everything work. So yes, you look at everything from a perspective of sustainability and how long. You can continue because you don't want to have to do it again, sure, yeah, okay, so we'll move on to the next step, which is women and careers, and your daughter, okay, you guys had Danica, yeah, it's a driver who made that call when she came to work for you, maybe because she came straight from the Indy car to here, yes, she had an agency working for her to put her in the place where she won't be, but you know she wanted run half the season.

I wanted to keep working in real life, yeah looking back I think I should have done more full-time seasons, but I think we were one of the few people who would do things on their terms, yeah, you know, because we all know that commitment is needed, yes, and we. we were in a position where we could compete part time with her and make that work for her, but I live vicariously through that, I loved it, yeah, you know, I liked celebrating the female aspect, owner and driver, now Danica , she just wanted to. be treated like everyone else, right?

But you know, that was a really fun thing for me and I really enjoy it because I didn't dream of being in her position, but I always go back and think what's what if you know what. Do you and I want a runner to achieve it? Yeah, she's so bad, you know? I had some comments so I have to throw them out and put them on the table here okay but it happened but I thought she was a marketing genius yeah. I thought we needed to stay in the seat, yes the marketing around her was phenomenal, yes, looking back on that time with her and you just said she needed to stay in the seat longer, but that helped Junior Motorsports pursue it.

I mean, that's good. question I don't know, I don't know if she really moved us forward or I think it was good for us. I mean, I think it was good. People were watching to see what she could do. I really wish she would. I think she had done it. She had a lot of confidence in her ability and didn't know what she was getting herself into. Yeah, at the end of the day, I mean, driving a Cup car is tough to that extent, a season in an Xfinity car, so I think you know her self-confidence is off limits.

She knows she was Danica Patrick and she banned her from staying on our series any longer. I guess she would say it was an advantage in terms of people looking at our organization. I can't say she wasn't. Let's get back to you. We go to see Danica, your daughter, yes, or Haley Deegan, and this day and time, and you say: I want a woman to be successful. What has that progression been like? So how have you seen that progression change? Acceptance, skills and what do you see? I think we're all more accepting of a woman in the garage, you know?

But there's still a lot of stigma around what they're capable of, you know, and what they're capable of doing in a race car, because no one has proven it. they can do it, yeah, I mean, there's just no one who has stuck with it and stuck with it and had results. I mean, I remember looking up to Shawna Robinson and Patti Moiez, you know, and they were in the middle of doing their thing and first. lady on a pole here or doing this that and the other, but there's not enough to make it worthwhile, you know, if I look at it from the angle of my daughter's career in Carson, I think this is too difficult, it's too much. difficult to achieve in racing I don't care if you are a man or a woman, yes, but I think it is more difficult.

I think it's a part that a lot of people miss, it's just hard, yeah, it's too hard, period, what I do. I don't understand why our sport and I said this to our Haley Deegan Doe Jr. download Why are there no sponsors and no Toyota? Yes, not Chevrolet, not an OEM, but why isn't there a sponsor that wants to support women in sports? You know, because that's what it's going to take, but they can't get out of the ranks. get the city experience they need to move on to have the time I talked about the same thing about my dad with Bubba and you look at minorities and you say there's a lot of companies that talk the talk, but not a lot that walk the walk, right ?

Think that the women who came before who have a survey that has those flashes where you can see the potential but it never materialized has hurt the process because people said, well, they tried it before and it didn't work. Do you think there's a little bit of that somewhere in this? I don't look at it as if, because you know, I really know what it takes to do what they've tried to do. I think about Hailey Deegan, she won three races in the Western Series, how long? Are we going to give him the opportunity to mature as a driver?

She just started racing stock cars. We know, I mean, she needs at least one or two more years and what she's doing for two years or more in trucks, so yours is an Xfinity to get to a. cup ride, you know, so it's like we're willing to wait for that, you know, we're willing to give it the opportunity to have that sit time and how long is the investment that people are making in it, you know, not I know if people are willing to wait yes, I'm not sure in this sport, I'm not sure about this sport or this time anymore, yes, what is it like for you to see your daughter running?

What emotions do you have when you watch her? When do you see her out there? I mean, I'm proud, I'm scared, she started running, she was nine, you couldn't watch any of my videos because I was cursing and angry, and don't do that, don't hit this, don't run away. Not from her, today you know, but I have improved a lot with it, but I think you could shed some light on this because you have had a similar experience, but my dad always said that if something happens to me in a race. self I'm doing what I love to do is right and so I feel like if you're doing what you love no matter what it is, I'm okay with that, yeah, but I go into it knowing that I could do it and I think about the "The fact that she could leave that racetrack at the end of the night in an ambulance, come on, that's number one, of course, she's not eligible because it's what she wants to do and she loves it, yeah, and you're right, I just can." I can't imagine him being any different, I can't imagine supporting him and I have to admit, honestly, that's the only comfort I ever take.

I think about yeah, yeah, I mean, it was God, I loved this, yeah, and that's it, honestly, that's all I have, thank you. Thank you so much for doing it, yeah, I appreciate it, boy, you absolutely know I'm doing it. Hello