As executive producer, Dale Jr. excited about new series – Nascar

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — When Dale Earnhardt Jr. previewed the first installment of the upcoming three-part series “NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said he was amazed at what he witnessed.

“The first part I watched like a kid at Christmas,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said Tuesday, adding that he kept thinking, “This is cool; I love what I’m seeing. I didn’t know it was like this; this is awesome.”

Earnhardt is an executive producer for the series, which debuts this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CMT.

“You know about Red Byron (NASCAR’s first premier series champion) and guys like that and what they’ve done but you’ve never actually had a window into what they might have been like,” he said. “So that was really, really neat.

“Watching that first episode, it’s completely different from watching the other two. The other two I was there, or I remember it as a kid. You immediately go to sort of picking it apart and (asking) does it live up to the standard?”

The series (episodes 2 and 3 will air on consecutive Sundays, May 15 and May 22) uses archival footage as well as reenactments and interviews to document the history of NASCAR from its beginning to modern day. Among those contributing on-air to the project were stars such as Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Darrell Waltrip.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and Lesa France Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer of International Speedway Corp., provide additional insights. NASCAR founder William Henry Getty France was their grandfather, Bill France Jr. their father.

Episode 1 details stock car racing’s rough, raw beginnings and the senior France’s desire to pursue his dream of bringing acceptability and professionalism to the sport.

Episode 2 features the continued rise of the sport and France’s many battles to bring NASCAR to mainstream America.

Episode 3 begins with the ’79 Daytona 500, a watershed moment for NASCAR, and focuses heavily on the career of France’s son, Bill Jr., and seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt before closing with where NASCAR sits in today’s sports landscape.

But it was that first episode that Earnhardt Jr. said, “Intrigues me the most.

“Because I wasn’t there and didn’t know much about that time,” he said. “You know people’s names and you match that name with an accomplishment. But you never really knew their personalities much.

“I believe in this kind of film you’re able to see maybe what this guy’s attitude or personality was like. You see when Big Bill is trying to form NASCAR, some of the drivers are kind of grinding against the gears and pushing back a little bit.

“We really don’t know a lot about that and there aren’t a lot of stories telling that part of it, that side of it. So that was real interesting.”