Watch: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Drives Malik Nabers Around Atlanta Motor Speedway as Giants WR Opens Up on His Bond With Jayden Daniels

Much like many NASCAR drivers wear their NBA and NFL fandom on their sleeves, top-tier athletes from those leagues often return the favor. One example is Michael Jordan, whose lifelong love for NASCAR led him to co-found 23XI Racing. More recently, New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers paid a visit to Atlanta Motor Speedway, hitting the track alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a few high-speed laps.

During their ride for Bleacher Report’s Taking Laps, Nabers and Dale Jr. talked shop, covering everything from the wide receiver’s rise through high school and college to the NFL grind, his evolving play style, and the toll the game takes both mentally and physically.

Nabers also opened up about his “welcome to the NFL” moment during a clash with Washington, and the unique friendship he shares with former LSU teammate Jayden Daniels, even as they now line up on opposite sides of a division rivalry.

Daniels, selected second overall by the Washington Commanders, and Nabers, taken sixth by the Giants, have forged a bond that’s stood the test of competition. When Dale Jr., a Commanders fan, expressed admiration for their friendship and likened it to his own early days in NASCAR, Nabers called it “brotherly love.”

“I think the support is what drives us to try to keep on going,” Nabers said. “When we was at LSU, we always wanted to make it to where we at now. So, it’s like just because we were at where we at now doesn’t mean we change that, change our relationship…

“We going to talk trash to each other. But it’s also a family talk trash. Like we understand the assignment between those lines. It’s a different way we act.”