Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat down in Darlington, S.C., for a one-on-one interview with Observer sports columnist Scott Fowler on May 12. Some of Earnhardt’s comments, as well as the questions, are edited for clarity and brevity.

To talk to Dale Earnhardt Jr. one-on-one is to realize that despite how big he has become, he hasn’t lost his most endearing quality: Honesty.

Earnhardt Jr., like his father before him, doesn’t much care how it sounds. He says what he feels like is the truth at that moment, and that truth is often unexpected.

What other NASCAR driver would admit to liking the music of Barry Manilow? What other person do you know who would put both the classic Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List” and the lowbrow Burt Reynolds comedy “Stroker Ace” among his favorite all-time movies?

Earnhardt and I sat together for close to an hour on May 12 in the back of his hauler, a day before the Darlington race. The conversation was stripped down and straightforward. Earnhardt Jr. was sick, his eyes rheumy, but he did the interview anyway, as scheduled. He would finish fifth in the race the next day after winning in Richmond the week before. Entering tonight’s all-star race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Earnhardt, 31, holds down the fifth spot in the Nextel Cup points race.

What did Junior say that surprised me? That the most important person in his life right now is his sister. That his career is often motivated by an intense fear of failure. And that sometimes he wishes he had a different name.

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