Dale Earnhardt Jr. wishes girlfriend was at Talladega to celebrate win

As Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated an emotional victory last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, he lamented that a special someone wasn’t there alongside him.

That special someone Earnhardt referenced was longtime girlfriend Amy Reimann, who skipped the race weekend to work on a vacation house the couple is remodeling.

“We thought it was a good idea for her to stay and work on the house,” Earnhardt said Friday at Kansas Speedway. “She and I were (at the house) together and then I went on to the racetrack and we didn’t anticipate winning the race. Didn’t even think about that, but it would have been great if she had been there.”

Following his Talladega victory, Earnhardt said in the winner’s press conference that not having Reimann there made him “miserable” and he regretted her staying back in North Carolina. Earnhardt said it’s an indication of how much Reimann means to him.

Missing out on her boyfriend winning has become a bit of a common occurrence for Reimann, who was also not present when Earnhardt won a race last season at Pocono Raceway. She will be in attendance for Saturday night’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400.

“When I met her she was working as an interior designer, so she has been working on this property that we have together,” Earnhardt said. “She will be here Saturday ... and I’m about ready for her to get here because Gus (the couple’s dog) has been a handful and I just need a break.”

Besides Reimann’s absence, Earnhardt was emotional for other reasons last Sunday. The victory came in the same week as the birthday of his late father, who won 10 times on the Alabama track, and was Earnhardt’s first Talladega win in 11 years.

By winning Earnhardt is also virtually assured of earning a Chase for the Sprint Cup berth. And the relief of knowing he’s qualified for NASCAR’s playoffs also contributed to the emotion Earnhardt exhibited afterward.

“That was just a huge weight off my shoulders and that was definitely the first, main thought I had,” Earnhardt said. “Just so much relief to be able to know that you are locked in the Chase, that is very important.

“The best part about it is you come into this race and the one after that and the one after that with so much less stress. You just get back to the core values and just enjoying racing and driving. You don’t have to worry about points. You don’t have to worry about when you are going to win and answering questions about when you are going to win. You don’t have to worry about a speck of doubt within the team or morale within the team. You can just go race and have fun.”