NBA / NASCAR – Charlotte NC Video Production

We had a “Ridiculous” time filming Charles Barkley & Dale Earnhart Jr racing each other for Inside the NBA and NASCAR.

Dale Jr. squared off against the Hall of Fame basketball player in a head-to-head race that aired on Inside the NBA during the 2014 Playoffs and  TNT’s NASCAR Series before the June 8 race at Pocono.

“I was really surprised how nice a guy he was,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I really expected him to be a competitor. As a player, he was really fiery and aggressive, getting into scuffles. He was super nice. Really has an appreciation for our sport. Just a real nice guy to be around.

The idea for the race began on social media when Earnhardt landed in one of TNT’s “Gone Fishing” tweets after the Charlotte Bobcats were eliminated from the NBA playoffs. Barkley mentioned he wanted to meet the driver, and Earnhardt replied on Twitter, “Heck, I wanna meet Charles!”

That sparked the race which was held at GoPro Motorplex in Concord, NC. The two celebrities meet for the first time on the race track, had a few fun words then jumped in the high performance Go Karts to race. Dale gave Charles a 1 lap lead and still won the first race as Charles was very timid driving. They decided to race again and this time Charles won. They ended with a tie and shared the trophy.

Barkley posted a Vine video from the encounter in which he told Earnhardt Jr. he’s been a longtime fan and had been trying to arrange a meeting through Hall of Fame driver Dale Jarrett.  NASCAR’s most popular driver has certified that Chuck is “not turrible” behind the wheel.