Dale Earnhardt’s wife axes plans for his participation in the 2018 Clash

Dale Earnhardt Jr may find himself in the same position many married men do: desperately yearning to do something, but knowing it would set their partners alight.

Ah, marriage. The willful renunciation of freedoms in the name of love. Despite qualifying as a mild form of mental derangement, many of us still choose to walk down such a path – and racecar drivers are no exception. As much as we may love our significant others, there is always the ever-awkward conversation of asking for permission to do something you know they might be opposed to. In this case, Earnhardt Jr’s participation in the 2018 Clash.

Somehow, Dale is managing to pull off a case of “Honey, can I please?” with the same adorable nature that he’s used to work his way into the hearts of the NASCAR fanbase. The #88 was candid about his wife’s reluctance to let him hop out onto the oval for one last hurrah, saying that the last thing she wants to risk is a repeat of the crash that took him out of the running and miss half of the 2016 season:

“Amy doesn’t want me to run it. I skipped it this year because I really had no purpose being there. I didn’t have no reason to run it. But we got a pole now and I kind of feel like, I kind of want to run it. But we’ll see. We’ll see if she warms up to the idea.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It’s incredible easy to side with Mrs. Earnhardt on this one, but we do have to keep in mind that Dale is a racer at heart. Climbing out of the car for the last time will be hard enough for him, but knowing that he could start the Clash from the top of the grid? That could prove to be far too enticing of a carrot at the end of the stick. The last ones usually always are.

We probably won’t hear much from Dale regarding his potential participation in the Clash for a long while after this. He’ll likely be far too busy pampering and pleasing his wife in order to convince her that letting him barrel around an oval at speeds of nearly 200 MPH in a box of carbon fiber and metal for one last time won’t be such a bad idea.

One could be tempted to point out the fact that the couple has been married for less than a year is the reason for Mrs. Earnhardt’s desire to prohibit Dale from risking his life in the event – had they been married for over a decade, she would likely be starting the car up for him and sending him on his merry way.

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