Life without a Wallet is No Issue for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, stands 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 – Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t need an excuse like “alligator arms”—he’s found a different way to be frugal.

He simply leaves the house without his wallet.

Not that Earnhardt needs a wallet or credit card. He doesn’t buy gas at a retail gas station. And if he’s hungry, well, someone else will front him the money for a meal.

“Sometimes I forget,” Earnhardt chuckled on Friday after a rain-shortened Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Talladega Superspeedway. “I have a gas tank at the house, so I don’t buy gas from the store. We buy gas in bulk—it’s a little cheaper.  This is something Kenny Wallace told me a long time ago when I was fixing up my property about 2002, 2003.

“He was like ‘Get you a gas tank and buy it in bulk, it’s cheaper and that way you ain’t got to go anywhere to get gas, you just pull out of the driveway, pump it right there and get on down the road.’  So, that’s what I do with gas. Usually, if I ain’t got my wallet and it’s time to eat, whoever is with me is going to buy the food.  I’m good for it though, so it’s usually not big discussion.”

That’s not to say Earnhardt’s forgetfulness doesn’t create some embarrassing moments. He keeps his keys in his wallet, too.

“Probably fifty percent of the time I will leave the house, unintentionally, without my wallet,” he admitted. “And it’s a pain in the butt, because I go over to JR Motorsports, and I don’t have my key to get in the door and have to get somebody to come down there and get me in—which is a little embarrassing for the boss or the guy that owns the building.

“But, you know, I don’t really spend money. I don’t really go buy stuff so I don’t … usually when I’m out and about, I’m going to do something as far as a responsibility with my team, going to the team meeting or something like that. I’m not really hardly in a store to physically purchase anything.  I guess that’s why I keep forgetting it, because I don’t hardly need it.”