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The definitive chronicle of the life and times of Dale Earnhardt has arguably already been produced, right?
So how did ‘Earnhardt,’ a new four-part documentary produced by Imagine Entertainment and legendary filmmaker Ron Howard go about differentiating itself from the ground previously covered by ‘Dale,’ the critically acclaimed 2007 film written by Ryan McGee and directed by Rory Karpf?
From the very beginning, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller said they felt same questions when first pitched concept by Howard and Prime Video, where the film will debut on May 22.
Dale told all involved ‘that is the standard’ because that is the film he showed his wife, Amy, because he believed that was the definitive portrayal of the seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion.
“We were frustrated over how she was never going to get to know dad,” Dale Jr. said during a press conference call previewing the premiere. “I told her, this ‘Dale’ documentary is the only thing I can show you that will help you know who he was. That goes to show you how confident I was in that piece of work.
“So I told the Imagine guys, if it can’t meet that standard, I don’t think we want to be a part of it.”
Obviously, Dale and Kelley are absolutely part of it and they both view ‘Earnhardt’ as being a complimentary extension to ‘Dale.’ Where the 2007 documentary emphasized Dale Earnhardt the competitor with a glimpse into his personal life, the 2025 documentary emphasizes his personal life with a side serving of the competitor.
“So that documentary, it does show you a bit of the personal and human side of dad but it celebrates more who we made him in our minds,” Dale Jr. said. “That was more about celebrating the seven championships and his larger-than-life personality, right? It was a great advertisement for how awesome he was as a racer.”
The ‘Earnhardt’ film, Dale Jr. says, is about ‘the man,’ and his relationships as a husband and father -- elements that did always flatter him but also contributed to how authentic and relatable his story was to millions of fans across the globe.
“This is the only documentary that tells the human side of dad,” Dale Jr. said. “It celebrates the man on the race track, for sure, but also celebrates the person he was, for better or worse.
“There are some tough moments in there, some honest moments in there, about how people felt about him.”
For example, this film leans heavier into his relationship with Kelley, which was occasionally strained even up to the point of his passing on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
And like in her 2020 book ‘Drive,’ Kelley continues to be transparent about all the ups and downs she experienced with her father, even in ways that surprised her brother.
“I just learned it was okay,” she said. “Growing up, our dad was larger-than-life to us, and I’ve heard this saying throughout my life, ‘no one wants to hear anything bad about their hero’ but as we’ve matured, grown up, and had our own relationship with our family, that’s just part of life.
“None of us are perfect. So for me, to share some of those experiences, it’s okay to share my experience. Everyone has different experiences with the same person, but for me, it just became okay with myself.
“It didn’t feel right until I matured about it myself.”
And make no mistake, both Dale Jr. and Kelley view their dad as the most prolific figure in their lives but that’s also a nuanced conversation. Dale Earnhardt was a great figure but he was also a man that faced the same life challenges as any other man. He overcame some of those and not so much some of the others.
That’s a real-life story.
“As we started to talk to people from the (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) days, those who knew him, those layers start to peel away and dive further into the human side of dad,” Dale Jr. said. “And Kelley did her book, and was very honest and transparent in her book, and I was like ‘wow, I can’t believe you wanted to be that honest about some things that were that honest in our lives’ so that’s just been a process in our lives, becoming more comfortable.
“Listen, I think my dad was the most incredible person I ever met, and ever known, and have so much respect and love for him, and miss him terribly. But, you know, there were some tough moments and things that I experienced as a child, that I didn’t understand then, that I better understand now and either makes sense today or still doesn’t make sense.
“So getting with the right people to tell that story was important I feel like we were able to connect with them in an honest way, and trust them, with that knowledge because it was all very personal.”
And those are the kinds of stories that could not have been told in 2007, which make ‘Earnhardt’ a fundamentally different, but equally comprehensive story from ‘Dale,’ which came before it.
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