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How different things would be if social media was available back in the early 2000s? One can only imagine how drivers like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart, or Matt Kenseth would’ve utilized the resources drivers have today to their full advantage (or disadvantage).

Sadly, we won’t ever find out. But at least we now have Earnhardt Jr imagining how things would’ve been had he gotten social media when he was in the prime of his driving career and popularity.

DARLINGTON, SC – AUGUST 31: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., JR Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Hellmann s (8) during the running of the Clips Haircuts VFW 200 on August 31, 2019, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, SC.(Photo by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire) AUTO: AUG 31 NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Xfinity Series – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxRUSxSWExNORxDENxONLY Icon190831001200Dale Earnhardt Jr. on if he had social media during his driving days

In an Ask Jr. segment of his podcast show, Earnhardt Jr. was asked by a fan how would he use social media if it was around in the 2000s when he was arguably the biggest name in the sport.

“Probably about the same. Probably the same but, you remember when we first started using social media, it was like, ‘Here’s what I had for lunch, here’s my dog,’ silly stuff right? Just dumb things,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We don’t do any of that no more.”

“We would’ve been even sillier.”

Junior added that when one is young, in their early 20s or early 30s, they’re “seeking attention”, and “checking boxes”, for which social media is a good tool as it “helps you climb these imaginary ladders.”

“There’d be a lot of going on Twitter and going, ‘Man that was a tough race. I’m sorry, I let everybody down’, only to get the reaction of, ‘You’ll get’em next week!’ Okay, yeah, that feel good, I’m back together,” he added.

TALLADEGA, AL – MAY 06: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, walks on the grid during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on May 6, 2017 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)

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Junior feels the ‘megaphone’ of social media would’ve made things massive

Mike Davis, Junior’s co-host, also chimed in with his thoughts as he wondered just how much social media would’ve helped Dale Jr’s brand considering the amount of cool stuff he did early in his career.

“It’d have been amazing,” Davis claimed.

Junior was also in agreement with this point as he also wondered how gigantic things could’ve been during his Bud days, and even in his Hendrick Motorsports days.

“How much bigger things would have been had we’d been able to have that megaphone? Social media is just a giant megaphone of, ‘This is where we are. This is what we’re doing, this is what we’re involved in today,'” he described.

“All the things we did back in the day with Bud, even early with Rick (Hendrick), when we went to drive at HMS, having that much more reach would’ve made it even massive, more massive than it was.”

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The post “How Much Bigger Things Would Have Been” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Envisions “More Massive” Popularity if He Had the Reach Drivers Have Today appeared first on EssentiallySports.