NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently recalled a gut-wrenching (yet slightly hilarious) childhood moment involving his late father, Dale Earnhardt.
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During the Ask Jr. segment of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, the second-generation NASCAR star was asked whether his father had any sports fandoms.
Earnhardt Jr. said his father did not cheer for any collegiate or professional teams other than the Atlanta Braves.
Still, the question triggered a painful memory for Earnhardt Jr., when the two NASCAR Hall of Famers had divided Super Bowl outcome desires.
Nearly a decade before the Panthers were founded in his native North Carolina, Earnhardt Jr. settled on being a Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) fan.
In 1984, Washington faced the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII.
Earnhardt Jr., who was nine years old at the time, desperately wanted Washington to win.
Despite not having a vested interest in the NFL, Earnhardt Sr. wholeheartedly rooted for the Raiders, to his son's chagrin.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Recalls Heartbreaking Moment
"He didn't have an allegiance to a specific team in the NFL. But I remember when Washington played the Oakland Raiders in 1984 for the Super Bowl," Earnhardt Jr. recalled on his podcast. "I had just in the past year become this massive fan of Washington. And I'm nine years old. Dad pulled for Oakland. And I knew that he wasn't, like, a fan of Oakland, but I'm sitting there going... and Oakland just destroyed them.
"We threw a pick-six. I'm crying on the floor of the living room. It was awful. We had an awful game. Marcus Allen just ran through gaping holes, big ole [holes]. It was awful. And Dad's just like, 'Yeah! Alright!', you know."
Earnhardt Jr. described his father's enthusiasm against Washington as "hurtful."
"I'm like, you don't even like the Raiders. What are you doing? It was hurtful," he said.
The Raiders' Super Bowl triumph over Washington wasn't just a blowout; it was a historic beatdown.
The team's 38 points and 29-point margin of victory broke Super Bowl records. It remains the most points scored by an AFC team in the Super Bowl, later matched by the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
