And it wasn’t exactly cheap…
There’s a lot to be said about the connection between father and son, which is what drove Dale Earnhardt Jr. to pay a hefty sum to buy his dad’s 1984 Goodwrench black No. 8 car. If you’re a NASCAR fan, you probably already know Earnhardt piloted that car to six victories. With a winning reputation like that, an old race car doesn’t come cheap, but Jr. had to have it.
Learn how a car banned from NASCAR set speed records here.
The story was told by Jr. on his own podcast, called the Dale Jr. Download if you want to check it out. While we’re not going to give the whole blow-by-blow account, which you can certainly listen to, here are the highlights of this interesting story.
That Goodwrench No. 8 car was a Pontiac Ventura, if you don’t remember. It was always special to Jr. for obvious reasons, so he kept an eye out for it as the machine was used in different vintage race events, including at the Goodwood Festival.
In April 2019 Jr. had his chance at ownership as the car was consigned for auction at Barrett-Jackson. As one might imagine, he wasn’t the only one interested in owning a one-off slice of NASCAR history, especially considering Dale Earnhardt Sr. used the vehicle to clench six wins in the cup series.
However, there’s a plot twist. Jr. wasn’t so sure the car was actually the one driven by his father. His uncle Robert Gee Jr. even stated the car was real, but Jr. still wasn’t a sure thing when it came time to place bids.
When the dust settled, Jr. came off victorious, but it cost him $190,000. We somehow think the guy has more than that in pocket change lying around, so for him it’s not that big of a sacrifice. Keeping in mind he wasn’t sure about the authenticity of the race car, Jr. was much relieved when he was able to closely examine it and matched the uneven holes drilled in the driver’s side door with a photo of his dad next to the vehicle back in 1986.
In the video you can watch Jr. tell the story himself.
