“As he evolved, the boos gave way to cheers and rivalries turned into friendships,” Earnhardt says in the nearly four-minute video produced by Amazon Prime.
WASHINGTON — Dale Earnhardt Jr. paid tribute to his rival-turned-friend over the weekend, narrating a nearly four-minute video about Kyle Busch for Amazon Prime.
The streaming service released the video tribute Sunday night, just four days after Busch’s sudden and unexpected death at the age of 41. Amazon Prime has been broadcasting NASCAR races since last year, with Earnhardt serving as one of two color commentators.
The video, titled “Dale Jr. remembers his friend Kyle,” begins with Earnhardt going over Busch’s upbringing and early racing career, noting how a young Kyle Busch quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with, even with an already established racer in his older brother, Kurt.
“It wasn’t long before he went from Kurt’s little brother ‘Shrub’ to ‘Rowdy’ and man did it fit,” Earnhardt says in the video.
It was an emotional, at times choked-up tribute to a man with whom Earnhardt frequently butted heads during his racing career. After Busch’s death, Earnhardt acknowledged a “really challenging existence” that had brewed between the two drivers for many years and admitted it was Busch who started the work that led to the two reconciling their differences.
“As he evolved, the boos gave way to cheers and rivalries turned into friendships,” Earnhardt says.
Earnhardt also read a quote from Busch, who once described how he hoped he would be remembered.
“I will always remember him as the guy who hated to lose more than anybody,” Earnhardt said in response.
The video ends with a clip from Busch’s final interview after winning a Trucks Series race in Dover, Delaware, where he was asked, “Why do these moments never get old?” to which the driver prophetically replied. “Because you never know when the last one is.”
Then the words, “Forever Rowdy,” appear on the screen.
Himself too familiar with sudden tragedy, 51-year-old Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the son of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr., who died in a mid-race crash in 2001 at 49 years old.