We all know Dale Earnhardt Jr., right? The guy made stock cars sing like musical instruments. It’s been 8 years since the NASCAR royalty and the Hall of Famer had his final race at Homestead. But still, the two-time Daytona 500 winner, ‘the Pied Piper of Daytona’ is one of the most influential figures in NASCAR. He wasn’t just a driver, he was the driver that made us flock to the race track every Sunday. And to borrow today’s language, he was just plain ‘cool’.
When you are that influential in the world of racing, on top of being the son of ‘The Intimidator’, Dale Earnhardt Sr., you tend to have fans in very high places and that leads to being invited to pretty ‘snazzy’ places. Like the White House, for example. For folks like us, it’s not every day that you get to rub elbows with the people who run the country, but for Earnhardt Jr., it was just another stop in his crazy journey.
Well, it was during one of those visits to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, on a trip that was supposed to be all prim and proper, that the ‘Classic Junior’ of old decided to make an appearance.
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When NASCAR Royalty met the Oval Office
In a hilarious revelation, on the podcast with his wife on his ‘Bless Your Hardt’ podcast, out of the blue, Earnhardt Jr. revealed one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. The moment when he let out a fart in the Oval Office during a visit to the White House in 2012 when then-President Barack Obama hosted the Cup Series playoff drivers, “That was when I tooted in [the Oval Office].”
His wife Amy further revealed the story of this sudden gas release in the White House, “So we’re watching, whatever we’re watching on TV and Dale goes, ‘You know I actually farted in the Oval Office once,” Amy explained.
Thankfully then-president Barack Obama wasn’t present in the Oval Office during this release, “Barack [Obama] wasn’t in there….They let us they were letting us walk around in the room and I walked around behind the desk and was just standing there and I was like and then I I was like, oh, I got a little fart here…You know what, I’m just going to leave it right here,” Earnhardt Jr. added, further explaining this backfire, this tactical gas deployment.
While Earhardt Jr. maintains that it did not change the ‘atmosphere’ of the room, “I mean I didn’t create a scene or anything.” His wife, who seemed to be no longer surprised by Earnhardt Jr.’s antics, didn’t seem convinced, “Maybe it did, Maybe it didn’t.”
Dale Jr.’s ‘exhaust incident’ while hilarious is just one of the incidents in the long relationship between NASCAR and the US presidents.
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NASCAR’s Presidential Connection
One particular moment that stands out more than others is when the 37th president, Richard Nixon, was flying aboard Air Force One, and spotted stock cars roaring around the track, which led him to make a detour and witness the action firsthand. Legend has it that he instantly became captivated by the thrill of the sport, which also led to a famous friendship with Richard Petty, the ‘King’ himself.
Nixon later became a vocal supporter of NASCAR and started the tradition of inviting drivers to the White House. The iconic image of Nixon and Petty, standing next to Petty’s blue Dodge number 43, still pops up on the internet when the two legends are talked about. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan cheered on his favorite driver Petty who won his 200th NASCAR race. This was the first time when a US President made an appearance at a NASCAR race.
This tradition of relationship between NASCAR and Presidents has continued over the years. After his emotional win at Daytona in 2004, Earnhardt Jr. was contacted by none other than George W. Bush who congratulated him on the win and deemed him “a great citizen and an awesome American”, and Earnhardt Jr.’s reply? Well, it was another ‘classic Dale’ moment, with Earnhardt Jr. replying to then-president Bush, “Thanks a lot man, I appreciate it”, which might be too much for a normal person, but he went a step further with “Alright, take it easy man.”
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Well, Donald Trump has made sure this tradition continues. Back in 2020, he made his first visit to Daytona Internationa Speedway, and he once again graced the iconic venue after securing a second term in the Oval Office in 2025.
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