Dale Earnhardt Jr. Reveals How a Devastating Fire at His Mother’s Home Brought Him Closer to His Dad

Life works in mysterious ways. For Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, getting closer to their dad involved getting away from their mother when they were both children. The duo talks about one of their most significant turning points in life as children at a time when neither of them could possibly know the ramifications of what was going on in their lives.

Urged on by the recently released 4-part Earnhardt docuseries on Amazon Prime and its latter two episodes releasing this Thursday, Junior and his sister spoke on how a house fire at their biological mother’s house meant they became closer to their dad, the infamous yet charming character in the world of NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt.

Staying with their separated mother at the time as their father tried to make it big in racing, both Junior and Kelley were forced to be given up by their mother after a house fire broke out in their home, which left them with nothing to lean on as a family.

Without a roof over their head and without their mother being able to support them, Dale Sr. took custody of his two children as he made a name for himself in NASCAR.

Both Kelley and Junior shifted in with Teresa Earnhardt, their father’s love interest at the time, who eventually went on to take on the role of their stepmother.

Had the fire not taken place at his mother’s house, neither Junior could be sure of what he has achieved in NASCAR as a driver and a team owner, nor Kelley as the brains behind one of the biggest Xfinity Series teams today. The duo looked back on what their life could’ve been had things turned out differently during a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight.

“It certainly would’ve been a completely different story. We would have obviously stayed with Mom longer, but I think we would’ve eventually found our dad and become some sort of part of his life. I would have been interested and curious in, you know, as a son, be around what he was doing,” said Earnhardt, looking back at what could’ve been.

What happened to Junior’s mother after she separated from her children?

Brenda Jackson moved to Virginia in a bid to regain control of her life after she and her two children were left without a home after the fire. She married Norfolk firefighter Willie Jackson in 1985 and returned to North Carolina to work with Kelley and Dale Jr. as an accounting specialist at her children’s Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports.

While she was with her children, not only did she work on the team, but Brenda also urged Junior to give up his career in racing at the time, fueled by Junior’s rather public admission of how he suffered with multiple concussions during the final days of his driving career. Having witnessed the death of Earnhardt Sr. in 2001, it was only natural for her to be worried.

She eventually passed away after a fight with cancer in April 2019, aged 65. She is survived by her husband, two children, a stepdaughter, six grandchildren, and two brothers.