Sounds Like Dale Earnhardt Jr. May Need More Practice Driving in the Snow
Dale Earnhardt Jr. extended his family’s legendary racing career by becoming one of the most popular NASCAR drivers ever, but the tracks he raced on were not covered in ice and snow.
That distinction proved pivotal during a drive through North Carolina’s harsh winter weather, as he revealed in a tweet on Wednesday.
He shared a photo revealing the scene shortly before he crashed into a tree.
“NC stay off the roads today/tonight,” Earnhardt wrote.
His wreck happened “5 minutes” after he helped the stranded motorist pictured in his tweet, he added.
Fortunately, the incident was relatively minor, leaving Earnhardt and his vehicle poised to drive another day.
“All good,” he wrote. “Probably just needs a new alignment.”
The retired racer, now an NBC Sports contributor, could encounter even more treacherous travel as he broadcasts from South Korea during the upcoming Winter Olympics.
News of his crash coincided with reports that his trip to Pyeongchang in coming weeks will be one of Earnhardt’s first assignments in his new post. His first on-air analysis for NBC will come during next month’s Super Bowl.
Network executive Sam Flood announced the new addition in a statement calling Earnhardt “a star on the racetrack and off” and expressing excitement about the prospects of the deal.
“It will be fun to have him be a part of our coverage of the Super Bowl, and we are looking forward to watching him explore a new world with the Winter Olympics,” Flood wrote.
As Rare reported, Earnhardt was not the only familiar NASCAR name to prove professional drivers are not immune to inclement weather conditions.
Daniel Suarez shared a similar experience, suggesting on Twitter that his luxury car was not up to the task of navigating the snow.
Some in the profession seemed to fare better, though.
For example, Michael Waltrip expressed confidence in his vehicle as he took to the roads in freezing conditions.
Earnhardt’s call to stay off the roads, however, echoes officials across the southern United States as multiple deaths have been attributed to the recent harsh winter conditions.
As the Weather Channel reported, two motorists were killed in a crash Wednesday morning on Interstate 75 in Georgia as the region was pummeled by a winter storm. Another individual reportedly died on Interstate 64 in West Virginia the previous evening under conditions attributed to the same storm.
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