Behind the wheel with Dale Jr.'s sister

It’s also possible that you started driving at a relatively young age. At least that’s the case for Kelley Earnhardt Miller, daughter of seven-time NASCAR premier series champion Dale Earnhardt. Along with her brother, current NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Sprint Cup team owner Rick Hendrick, she is co-owner of JR Motorsports, an organization that fields three full-time teams in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Earnhardt Miller traveled with the group’s No. 9 team this week to Columbus, Ohio where, along with driver Chase Elliott, it was recognized for winning the 2014 series championship.

At one point in a question-and-answer session with Nationwide Insurance employees, she was asked who taught her to drive and how young she was when she first got behind the wheel.

“I know my dad gave me lots of pointers just because that’s just the way he was,” she said of the legendary racer and NASCAR Hall of Fame member. “He told us how to do everything.

“This isn’t a good insurance topic, but I was actually on the streets, on the road, before I was 16.”

Her reasoning was sound, if not exactly going by the letter of the law. And it brought laughs from those in the audience.

“It was, I don’t know, more legal back then,” she said. “… We’ve always driven since we were kids, and I had a little Volkswagen on the farm, driving it around when I was 12 or 13. Every now and then I’d drive on the main road.”

Of course, Earnhardt Miller wasn’t the only guest who confessed to being behind the wheel well before they were lawfully licensed. Elliott, who celebrated his 19th birthday in November, also admitted to being behind the wheel at an early age, although he wasn’t exactly handling the driving duties by himself.

“I remember riding down the road and sitting in my dad’s lap (behind the wheel), as far back as I can remember,” he said of trips with his father, NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bill Elliott. “I don’t know how old I was, though.”

Earnhardt Miller said the Nationwide relationship has been an enjoyable one for her family – the company won’t return as series sponsor in 2015, but will sponsor Earnhardt Jr. on the Sprint Cup level and maintain its sponsorship of the series’ race at Mid-Ohio.

“It’s pretty special to us,” she said.

“I’ve told this story a lot. First it was 30 years ago, now it’s 35. I remember when I was 16 and going to get my driver’s license. It was four o’clock … and we didn’t have our insurance paperwork together. So they wouldn’t give me my license. I was very disappointed.

“Our (Nationwide Insurance) agent was in Kannapolis so they met us halfway (and) got us everything that we needed. That really set in for me. Nationwide was on my side right then. I’ll never forget that.

“It is really just natural, authentic. It’s a product everybody needs and a product we believe in and can share.”

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