Dale Earnhardt once kicked an employee while he had a torn ACL

Earnhardt warned an employee that he would get hurt playing basketball; When he did; Earnhardt kicked him where it hurt

Dale Earnhardt was winning NASCAR Winston Cup Series titles and holding up an image at the same time. Behind the scenes, he was building something for his son.

In 1995, Dale Earnhardt set out to build a new race team. The building were going up ahead of the team’s launch in the 1996 NASCAR Busch Series season.

Ty Norris played a massive role at DEI. He was a friend to Dale Earnhardt and was trusted with the role of General Manager for the company.

Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr setup a basketball net at DEI. That led to an employee tearing up one of their legs.

Dale Earnhardt comes in and says, “No basketball.”

Related: Dale Earnhardt Jr recalls on-track disputes with Dale Earnhardt Sr

Ty Norris tears ACL playing basketball

Ty Norris reflected on the incident via the Dale Jr Download.

Norris, the general manager of DEI responded, “Basketball’s my life. I play basketball, every day.”

“I tore my ACL playing basketball at the YMCA. So, he gets home from the race last night and he calls me, ‘What time you gonna come to the shop tomorrow.’ “

“I said, ‘I’ll be there early. But, just to let you know, I tore my knee up pretty bad.’ “

“He said, ‘Doing what?’ “

“I said, ‘Playing basketball.’ “

“He said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow!’ And he slams the phone down.”

Related: Dale Earnhardt Jr recalls childhood mischief

Dale Earnhardt kicks Ty Norris

Norris explained, “The next day I go over there, and we’re building DEI. They’re out there looking at plans and stuff. He’s coming out of this shell of a building and I’m in the deer head shop.”

“I walk over limping. He could see which leg I was limping on. He puts his hand out for me. Right when I go to shake his hand, he picks up his leg and kicks me right in the knee as hard as he could. I mean, took me down.”

“He says, ‘I told you to never play basketball. Now, I’m not going to have my employees where they can’t be around.’ “

“I am like teared up. It freakin hurt. This is on a Monday.”

Related: Dale Earnhardt Jr recalls the ‘most important moment’ with his father

Dale Earnhardt and son Dale Jr
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 4: Dale Earnhardt Sr. & Dale Earnhard, Jr. pose together at the raceway in Daytona Beach, Florinda on February 4, 2001. The Earhnardts and Andy Pilgram earned second in the GTS category during the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. (Photo by ISC Archives via Getty Images)
Dale Earnhardt gets him a doctor

“Later in the week, Becky used to come around and work on his back because his neck was all messed up. She checked, she goes, ‘You tore your ACL.’ “

“I said, ‘I know. But, I can’t take a minute off to go to a doctor.’ “

“She tells Dale. Dale sends Jimbo over. He says, ‘Go home right now. The doctor is going to fix you up.’ “

“Like, he felt bad. You talk about an imperfect person, he couldn’t control it. I was influential in everybody’s lives. But, there were a lot of days where i was like, ‘Get this man, out of this office. Get this man on the back of that farm. Cause he is a miserable son of a bitch.’ “

Norris concluded, “The flaws are what make you.”

Related: Dale Earnhardt Jr installed dashboard sticker; Bud asked him to remove it, during iconic NASCAR race

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Dale Jr | Dale Earnhardt | NASCAR

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