I was a huge boxing fan, but it's a sport where the guys punch each other in the head. I thought maybe I shouldn't be a fan of that anymore. Maybe I shouldn't allow myself to cheer a sport where the head injuries are a big part of it.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr.
If I were to finish my career without a title, I would certainly be disappointed. But I don't think it would be something that would eat away at me... I think I certainly would be able to live with it.
I'm a big fan of music. I need to be listening to music most of the time during the day.
A. J. Allmendinger is really hard to pass. He races really, really hard for every position. And you know, that's his right. But it's very frustrating at times.
I love stock-car racing and NASCAR. I kind of take offense to anybody who has any cross words about it. It's kind of like your brother. You can talk all the crap you want about him, but you won't let anyone else do it.
I'm not a huge fan of North Carolina barbecue. I like Memphis style barbecue and Kansas City.
I don't think any of us knew the dangers of repeated concussions or the fact that even when you got a concussion, the idea to go get treatment for it never entered our minds. We just didn't have - we weren't educated enough. We were really ignorant to it. I would get concussions in my early 20s racing, and it was a bit of a badge of honor.
I know a lot of Cup Series champions, and they each have a very different personality. They all go about handling adversity, their challenges, and even confrontation a little differently.
John Madden, I always thought, was awesome.
I wish Michael Schumacher would come try NASCAR. That'd be cool.
I've always felt like a lot of people's misconceptions of me have to do with how I grew up. I grew up poor, and I grew up rich.
'Castaway' is my favorite movie, and any time I read about a castaway or a story like that, it just interests me a lot.
I always liked 'The Last American Hero,' the one about Junior Johnson with Jeff Bridges in it.
The Dodge Charger in the late '70s at Daytona, that looked like an awesome car.
When I run a race, I, maybe inadvertently or unknowingly, concern myself with whether the fan was entertained or got what he expected or whether they got what I think they deserved out of me and out of the race.
I definitely find myself, as I get older, a lot more aware and concerned with the health of the sport.
I've been with some great teams and had good wins and great success at certain periods of time in my career.
When you have a concussion, one of the symptoms that is common is anxiety. Imagine having the normal amount of anxieties that everybody shares - about life and meeting people in social spaces, whatever. Imagine that being multiplied by 10, 20. And so your worry over people's perceptions of you multiplies.
I always thought, if I wasn't racing, one of my dream jobs would be as a scout, going town to town and trying to find bands in all these little dive bars. That would be so much fun, discovering music that way as opposed to from your phone.
I don't like going on stage. Stages mean 'nervous' for me.
The first win was racing my Late Model at Myrtle Beach. It was twin 50s. We'd usually run a 100-lap feature, but it rained the week before, so they split the next weekend in half and made twin 50s. And I won the first one.
I like 'Man v. Food,' 'Diners Drive-ins and Dives.' 'Restaurant Impossible' is pretty good, too.
Being a dad is great. Every day there's something new.
Sometimes, you know, you - drivers are worried about being misdiagnosed and maybe missing a race when they don't really have a concussion. But you can never take the risk there. It's just too dangerous to layer concussions.
When someone tells me they've never been to a race, I tell them that the first one they should go to is Bristol, Tennesee. The shape of the track, the energy, and excitement under the lights is similar to what you might get at a stick-and-ball game in college football or the NFL.
I was way behind in my maturity. I was a 30-year-old acting like a 23-year-old. So when I was 21, I was probably acting like a 15-year-old.
Everything we do needs to be geared toward making the sport more accessible to the fans - the rules of the sport, how the race plays itself out, how people qualify into the races - everything needs to be as easy to understand as possible.
My favorite thing to do... is to get my big trailer grill and smoke some meat and sit around with my buddies all day for 12 hours cooking that and then eat at the end of the day.
I used to have stomach ulcers and stuff when I was in the 10th grade. I'd be doubled over on the floor, I was hurting so bad. I was on Tagamet before it was over the counter.
I like to sit around the pool, listen to music, barbecue, grill, stuff like that. Just the guy next door, I guess.
I would have loved to race from 1970 to 1980.
I love running good because it meets expectations, whether it's the fans' or my own. And I know that they come to be entertained: they pull for a particular driver to be entertained by that driver's success and that driver's personality, and they relate to that individual.
I didn't start driving race cars because of the fame or the money, but the most rewarding factor is being complimented on what you do, and your fans are always the first to do that.
When I was a kid, one thing I counted on was rushing home from church to catch the start of the race. There's something really awesome about that routine.
Me and my dad never talked racing. We just didn't. I wouldn't go up and ask him about that unless I wanted to upset him.
My first concert was Chicago and Moody Blues. I was 15 years old.
You form pretty strong opinions about the guys you compete against. You're all very competitive; you're all very selfish. So it's easy to drum up some strong opinions in a second's notice, like, 'Argh! This guy!'
I think that any time you share a secret, you're a little nervous about people's reaction to it.
I'm a big fan of Myron Mixon. I've read a couple of his books, and I've learned the little bit that I know about barbecue from those books.
I had a couple of chances to go inside the broadcast booth when I was out of the car in 2016 and loved it a lot.
I think that our personalities and our souls have so much - we're so much more than just blood vessels and bone and muscle.
I like Joe Buck. I know there's a big divide on people that like Joe Buck and people that don't like Joe Buck. But I love his cadence and tone and professionalism, and he's smart.
I wish I'd a got married sooner. I wish I'd a had kids sooner. I wish I'd a figured all that out sooner.
I think some people who have never met me have a misconception that when I was living with my father when he was successful, that I was somehow adversely affected by his success or the money he had and was making at the time.
I use my notes app on my iPhone religiously, and I have one note just for movies. Every time I see a movie I think I'm going to want to watch, I'll put it in there.
When you're around a sport awhile and sort of get to know everybody, you start to appreciate people more instead of just seeing a number and a sponsor and a competitor.
Winning the championship is more than 50% driver. It's probably 60% driver, 40% car. I don't really know where luck fits in there - over the course of a season, everybody catches their breaks.
I would give up barbecuing for a championship.
I keep sour grapes in the fridge all the time. And I eat those all day long, all week long, all month. All the time.
I always think about my dad. He's always in the back of my mind. That helps me make good decisions. It has an influence on my life in every decision and everything I do.
