Dale Earnhardt Jr. accomplished almost everything a NASCAR driver could want.
Wins at the sport’s biggest tracks. Two Daytona 500 victories. Hall of Fame induction. A career that made him one of the most popular drivers of his era. And a legacy that still carries weight years after stepping away from full-time competition.
But there is one thing he never did that still lingers. It has nothing to do with NASCAR. It is a different kind of car. A different kind of track. And a question he never got to answer.
Speaking on the “SPEED with Harvick and Buxton” podcast, Earnhardt was asked about the biggest regret of his racing career. His response was immediate.
“Not racing in an IndyCar.”
For a driver so closely tied to stock cars, it is a revealing admission. Not because of what he missed competitively, but because of what he never experienced at all.
The Indianapolis Opportunity He Never Took
Earnhardt said he had chances earlier in his career to get behind the wheel of an IndyCar, specifically at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I’ve had some chances to just run laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a car, and I should’ve,” he said.
He was not chasing a start in the Indianapolis 500. He was not exploring a crossover move. He simply wanted to feel it.
“I always kind of wondered what that would feel like.”
For a driver raised in NASCAR, Indianapolis represents something entirely different. The speed profile, the grip level, the precision required in an open-wheel car all stand apart from anything in stock car racing.
It is that unknown that stuck with him.
A Missed Window That Closed
Earnhardt made it clear the timing was there, particularly earlier in his career.
“I wish I would’ve done that, really, because when I was younger, in my 30s, I had some opportunities just to go feel it,” he said.
The emphasis never shifted to competition.
“Not really go race. I don’t need to go race. But I just really would love to know what that car feels like going around such a historic racetrack.”
That curiosity, more than anything, defines the regret. Now, he understands the moment has likely passed.
“And just saying that now, I’m probably going to get another couple of offers, but that ship has sailed.”
It is not frustration. It is acceptance. But it is also one of the few unanswered questions in a career that otherwise left very little on the table.
A Career With Very Few What-Ifs
Earnhardt raced full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000 through 2017, first with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and later with Hendrick Motorsports. He won 26 races at the sport’s top level and became a defining figure of his generation.
Before that, he won back-to-back championships in what is now the O’Reilly Series in 1998 and 1999.
Since stepping away from full-time competition, he has remained embedded in the sport. He co-owns JR Motorsports and still competes occasionally in the O’Reilly Series. In 2025, he even stepped in as an interim crew chief for Connor Zilisch at Pocono, where the team won.
There are not many boxes left unchecked. Which is what makes this one stand out.
The One Experience He Never Had
Most drivers look back and point to races they wish they had won or championships that slipped away.
Earnhardt’s answer is different. It is about a handful of laps that never happened.
A different cockpit. A different rhythm. A different kind of speed at one of the most historic tracks in motorsports.
Even now, years removed from full-time racing, that curiosity remains. Not about what he could have achieved. But about what it would have felt like.
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