NASCAR Cup Series

Do the 'que: Dale Jr. compares barbequing to prepping Late Model

Published Sep. 27, 2014 1:07 p.m. ET

Jared Turner

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets a rare Sunday afternoon away from a racetrack, you can find him somewhere on his sprawling property in Cleveland, N.C., barbequing with his inner circle of friends and family members.

When Junior and his clan barbeque out back, they do it up big, too, as it's an all-day affair of tinkering with whatever that day's chosen concoction happens to be -- sometimes ribs, sometimes brisket, really just whatever strikes the group's fancy.

Junior, who refers to himself on his personal Twitter account profile as an "aspiring competition BBQ Pitmaster," took time out on Friday at Dover International Speedway to compare the barbequing experience to another one of his favorite pastimes.

"It's real similar to preparing an old Late Model for a race," said Earnhardt Jr., who cut his teeth running Late Models at North Carolina and South Carolina short tracks. "It's a lot of maintenance and you are always kind of tinkering and playing and tweaking on the setup. You take it to the track and tweak on it a little bit here, tweak on it a little bit there, you don't get too far out of your comfort zone. It's real similar to that, and you get your buddies around (and) just like in the Late Model days everybody is a volunteer."

The mark of a solid BBQ Pitmaster is the ability to smoke on a wide variety of platforms. Our latest. @BigGreenEgg pic.twitter.com/iba3iUVeUw
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) September 25, 2014

Junior's only regret about barbequing?

"We have been working so damn much, I ain't got a chance to barbeque much," he said. "We have been working like crazy this year. I thought the older I get the more leverage I would get and the less I would have to do. It's actually not working for me too much. We are working really hard. I'm enjoying what we have going on.

"This is the part of the year where not only are we trying to get through the Chase, but all of our sponsors are coming to us for 2015 stuff trying to get all their commercials shot and all their photos taken and all the new uniforms and cars and all that stuff. If I get a Monday off, I'm lucky looking at my calendar all the way to Homestead."

As busy as NASCAR's most popular driver is and will be throughout the rest of the season, he does plan to at least carve out some time to hone his skills at his latest culinary interest -- homemade beef jerky.

"I'm going to get me a dehydrator," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I've got to read up, though. I'm not going to jump in like I did with the barbeque. I've got to read up and make sure I get the right stuff first, because I've got like three smokers now because I went in too quick and bought and just kind of got in over my head not getting the right stuff. (Celebrity chef) Myron Mixon says you've got to be able to smoke on everything, no matter what it is."