I’d like to say that I’d be happy for my man if he met someone as legendary as George Strait without me… but I’m not going to lie, that would send me over the edge.
So, to poor Amy Earnhardt, I feel your pain. The wife of legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently teamed up with her husband for a new episode of their joint podcast, Bless Your ‘Hardt, filmed live on location in Key West.
And given the setting of their tropical getaway, the two couldn’t help but recall a rather traumatic memory from a few years back, when Amy lost track of her husband in Key West… only to find out he was off schmoozing with none other than the King of Country himself, George Strait.
Now the story is not necessarily a new one; the two have beefed about it on a few different occasions, but here we are, years down the road, and Amy is still pressed she hasn’t gotten to meet Strait, declaring, “Am I the only one who hasn’t met this man?” At the time, Strait was in town, recording an album at one of the local studios, and Dale and Amy were also in the area with some of her family.
As Dale tells the story, the wives were dragging the men around to random stores. Or as Amy tells it, they had gone to a Doerfel’s show at the pier, but it was so hot out that day that they decided to go back to the house to swim in the pool.
Instead of joining the group, Dale and his newfound family friend Billy “disappeared until 2 in the morning.” To which he added, “We had left our phones charging at the house, so we separated, and we’re like, we’ll have a beer here and hang out.”
Apparently, the guys had gone looking for the ladies, but the two groups never managed to cross paths. Meanwhile, the girls were on a search of their own, unable to track down their husbands but at least managing to retrieve Billy’s phone from the house.
The ladies eventually made their way to Margaritaville, where a text from none other than Strait’s son, Bubba, suddenly popped up on Billy’s phone. “George’s son has sent a picture of these three fools to Billy’s phone, and I can see from upside down, I’m like, ‘that’s f*cking George Strait.'”
Grinning from ear to ear in the photo, the three men looked like they were having the time of their lives. And according to Amy, the legendary snapshot has since been printed and now hangs in every room of their South Carolina home. So, how exactly did the lost boys manage to cross paths with the King of Country himself?
Well, after an exhausting search for their wives, the guys decided to stop by Schooner Wharf Bar, where, lo and behold, George Strait just so happened to be sitting right across from them. Dale recalled, “I know that George and Dad met and they hunted together a time or two, and I’m like, ‘Billy, let’s get a little closer and see if George will recognize us.'”
Finally, Strait’s son approached them and said, “Hey, man, Dad likes to say hey to you.” And while George had apparently been working on his fishing boat all day and was already “in the sauce a little,” that certainly didn’t stop them from getting a photo together and making a memory they’d never forget (and forever rub in Amy’s face).
Meanwhile, back to Amy and her squad, who had just seen the photo Bubba sent of the three guys hanging out with George Strait at Schooners. Naturally, the ladies booked it across town in hopes of getting their own chance to meet the “Amarillo By Morning” singer, but as fate would have it, he had already left by the time they arrived.
Amy exclaimed, “We didn’t give a sh*t what they had done all day at that point; we were like, ‘Where’s George Strait?'” Dale then tried to set the record Straight (pun fully intended), saying, “This happened 10 years ago, I have told Amy a million times that we were looking for them all day long, and she still doesn’t believe me.”
To which she hilariously quipped back, “And why would I? Why would I? He had the day of his life. They shared chili fries, they had f*ckin—, they had a big ‘ole day.” And to make matters even funnier, Amy apparently spent the day hearing all about Billy and Dale’s adventures from locals around town while the guys were supposedly “missing.”
But hey, at least she managed to end the story on a lighthearted note, looking at her husband and joking, “But you’re so cute. Good for you.”
I know Strait isn’t exactly one for public appearances, let alone interviews, but Dale better start trying his d*mn hardest to get the King of Country on their podcast. Watch the beloved NASCAR couple’s latest episode below: