Earnhardt honors family traditions in new Goodyear commercial

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. » Ralph Earnhardt died in 1973, almost a full year before his grandson was born. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had seen photos of his grandfather and listened to stories about the first racer in the family, but he never felt as if he knew the man.

Then Dale Earnhardt Sr. discovered footage the Earnhardts believe is the only known video of Ralph Earnhardt speaking on film. He was being interviewed after a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Earnhardt Sr. popped the tape in for his son to watch.

“We were sitting in Dad’s office in DEI and he said ‘You are going to see Ralph Earnhardt talk, and you are going to hear him talk and this is the only footage that exists.’ So me and Dad sat there and watched it. I had seen pictures of Ralph, I had no idea what he sounded like and I had no idea what his mannerisms were like and in that moment, I was meeting him.”

Earnhardt recalled that moment with his father, watching the grandfather he never met, in an interview with The Associated Press about a new Goodyear commercial that will air during the Daytona 500 Sunday. The spot is called “Make Name” and honors the a Earnhardts’ long relationship with the tire maker. A.J. Croce covered his late father’s song, ‘I Got A Name,’ for the commercial, which depicts a young Earnhardt idolizing his father, growing into his own role as a racer, and now shifting in retirement to a job in television.

The Goodyear blimp will feature (hash)MakeAName instead of its usual brand name at the Daytona 500, where Earnhardt is the grand marshal.

Earnhardt has always been careful about incorporating his father, a seventime champion and Hall of Famer, into his own marketing. Earnhardt Sr. was killed in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

His son went on to win two Daytona 500s but retired at the end of last season because of a history of concussions. He’s now married, expecting his first child this spring, and transitioning into jobs outside the race car.

This Goodyear script was a winner for him, though, because he’s long felt a connection to the Croce song and because his family had such a strong relationship with the tire company. When Goodyear battled Hoosier in the brief tire war to hit NASCAR, Earnhardt Jr. said his father was one of only two drivers to remain loyal to Goodyear.