“Didn’t quite grasp the magnitude”: When Dale Jr.’s wife Amy revealed being taken aback by the NASCAR legend’s celebrity
JR Motorsports owner and NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s wife Amy Reimann (now Earnhardt) once opened up about what it was like dating a well-known public figure. Amy was featured in an interview with the well-known car publication Autoweek in 2018 and shared her experience.
Dale Jr. and his wife started dating in 2009 and made it public in 2011. The couple tied the knot on New Year's Eve in 2016 at the Childress Vineyards in Lexington, North Carolina. A year later, Junior announced his retirement from the sport and gained a lot of popularity, winning the Most Popular Driver award 15 times.
By this time, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had become a well-known public figure, and Amy had a hard time blending in with the environment. Recalling this, the interviewer asked her:
"Amy, did you realize what you were getting into? You are now a public figure; how hard has that been?"
Amy replied:
"I didn’t necessarily know what I was getting myself into when I began dating Dale. I hadn’t watched a single NASCAR race and didn’t really grasp the magnitude of who he was, not only in his sport, but as a celebrity in general. It’s been quite the learning curve to get used to being in the public eye and all that comes with it."
She added:
"There were times, early on, that I really struggled with it … especially the criticism."
Amy Earnhardt further mentioned that she learned to embrace the "nuances." She then frequently visited his husband on the tracks and learned to deal with all the criticism.
“It's not worth the risk of his health"—When Amy decided on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s racing future on behalf of him
In 2017, Amy Earnhardt was featured in an interview with Jeff Gluck and opened up about the criticism she faced for her tweet regarding racing risks. Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired in 2017 and was on the list of qualified drivers for the 2018 Advance Parts Clash race. He wanted to compete in the race, but he asked his wife to decide on his behalf.
Amy highlighted that Junior kept asking her to compete in the race, but she was concerned about his health. Earlier, in 2016, Dale Jr. faced concussions throughout the entire half-season of 2016 while he was still racing for Hendrick Motorsports.
Junior's wife tweeted:
"Considering his struggles last fall with his injury, we are very blessed that he is now healthy & able to enjoy his final season...and hopefully many years beyond racing. So my answer is simple. It's not worth the risk of his health."
Amy mentioned that Dale Jr. even told the owner of Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, that his wife would decide for him to race. She added:
"So after a lot of heckling on social media, especially that week — he must of had an interview where it came up again because that day in particular, I had a lot of responses in my feed — I just got tired of listening to it, so I’d figure I’d put a squash to it."
Despite facing a lot of backlash on social media, Amy Earnhardt stood by her decision, and Junior did not compete in the race.