Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s only authorized book revealing the inside track on his final year of racing and retirement from the driver’s seat. “Time was running out on my charade… My secrets were about to be exposed to the world.” It was a seemingly minor crash at Michigan International Speedway in June 2016 that ended the day early for Dale Earnhardt Jr. What he didn’t know was that it would also end … June 2016 that ended the day early for Dale Earnhardt Jr. What he didn’t know was that it would also end his driving for the year. He’d dealt with concussions before, but concussions are like snowflakes, no two are the same. And recovery can be brutal, and lengthy.
When NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired from professional stock car racing in 2017, he walked away from his career as a healthy man. But for years, he had worried that the worsening effects of multiple racing-related concussions would end not only his time on the track but his ability to live a full and happy life.
Torn between a race-at-all-costs culture and the fear that something was terribly wrong, Earnhardt tried to pretend that everything was fine, but the private notes about his escalating symptoms that he kept on his phone reveal a vicious cycle: suffering injuries on Sunday, struggling through the week, then recovering in time to race again the following weekend. For the first time, he shares these notes and fully reveals the physical and emotional struggles he faced as he fought to close out his career on his own terms.
In this candid reflection, Earnhardt opens up about his frustration with the slow recovery, his admiration for the woman who stood by him through it all, and his determination to share his own experience so that others don’t have to suffer in silence. Steering his way to the final checkered flag of his storied career proved to be the most challenging race and most rewarding finish of his life.
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Wow! What a true story but the concussions should have been taken more seriously.
My husband received this book as a Christmas gift, and though Dale Jr. is his favorite driver, he mentioned he thought that the book might be a tearjerker and didn’t immediately start reading. So, I dove right in and found this book to be so refreshingly honest that it amazed me. I think you sometimes forget that high profile athletes or other personalities can remain humble and are real people, too, surrounded by very caring and supportive family, friends and colleagues. Dale Jr. certainly appears to be a genuinely honest and forthright individual, fortunate to have such a devoted support system.
Dale didn’t have to write this book and divulge all of his personal notes regarding what he experienced while suffering from multiple concussions and on his road to recovery. He wrote this book to share his experiences and to encourage others who may be suffering from similar conditions to seek help. Thank you Dale for taking the time to share your story. I’ll read this book again.
Dale Jr. talks about the crash that changed the course of his life in this book. He goes on to explain how his concussion(s) affected him on and off the track.
I am a huge fan of Junior and was extremely thrilled to receive a copy of his book to read and review. I, like many fans, did not fully understand what he was experiencing on a daily basis. I knew very little about concussions going into this book. I was not prepared to learn how repeated, untreated concussions could affect your mood and temper.
I applaud Junior for being brave and realizing if he came forward and shared his experiences he could help others. He understood he had the perfect platform to reach many people who otherwise may never have sought treatment.
I would recommend this book to anyone with children in high contact sports such as wrestling, football, rugby, and soccer. It is written in a plain and simple writing style that should be easy for anyone to read and understand. As you are reading you feel like you are sitting across the table from Junior sharing a drink.
I have nothing but high praise for this book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.
I love books where I sense the amazing complexity of human experience. RACING TO THE FINISH, a memoir by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., NASCAR racer, is such a book.
Let me start by saying I’m not a NASCAR fan. I’ve never been to a race, although I’ve seen them on television. Who can forget the sight of those cars zooming around the track at the Daytona 500?
There are crashes galore in this book. For example Dale describes this one at the Talladega Speedway in Alabama:
“It started a chain reaction that would end up wrecking twenty-five cars…Tony got sideways, fell out of the lead, and slid helplessly up into our pack. He was hit simultaneously by two oncoming cars and flipped into the air…He sailed by me as I started braking to keep from hitting anyone too hard as cars were out of control and all over the place right in front of me. As we all kept sliding and other cars kept smashing into each other…
…When you’re in the Big One, you’re just like a boat stuck in a storm. You can react and steer and dig all you want, but really, you’re just praying for the best. You have little or no control. It’s just screeches and smoke and chaos. What you don’t want to hear is that crunch, that smack that tells you that you’ve been hit.”
What spectators miss is what happens next. Like heavy-weight boxers or professional football players, race car drivers are at extreme risk for traumatic brain injury. And, like other professional sports players, these injuries often go unreported for fear of losing jobs or being considered a coward or weakling. It’s a strange world out there.
The motto from his family seemed to be, “just put a washcloth over it,” or “tape an aspirin to it” and keep on racing. Dale was different, though, in that he started keeping a journal on his iPhone of the symptoms he was experiencing after these crashes that were considered part of his job.
Through the book the reader experiences both sides of his physical and emotional world: the extreme highs of fast-speed track racing and the aftermath of pain and confusion after a bad crash.
In journal entries Dale describes the post-race symptoms:
“Thursday I felt hungover and frustrated all day…Friday, I seemed to wake up really slow and feel groggy and not sharp…The three different hits into the wall that Sunday were 20, 13, and 23 Gs…There’s a lot of things I do today that frustrate me. Mid-sentence, not being able to find the words to finish. ..when in vocal conversation I choose the wrong word or can’t find the word to complete my thought, that makes me so sad and scared.”
Dale gets the help he needs to retrain his brain, but then re-injures it and has to start over again.
He was unstintingly honest about what he did, and why. When he eventually retired, it was to a celebration of people who loved him.
An uplifting book with a strong message of strength and challenge. I thoroughly relished going along for the ride.
Well-written and informative book. A longtime member of Jr Nation, I greatly admire Dale Jr for sharing his journey with us.
I voluntarily reviewed a provided copy.