Dale Earnhardt Jr. Drives and Reviews the Spark

2014 Chevrolet Spark (Credit: Chevrolet)

In case you weren’t aware, Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com is one of the sponsors for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Chevy SS. The car website leveraged the NASCAR driver’s celebrity to review the Chevy Spark, which is awkward considering that Earnhardt’s biggest sponsor is of course Chevrolet. That is what we term in the business a conflict of interest, but at least everyone (should) realize this when they watch the review.

Lately, Earnhardt has been a good sport about all sorts of things, including doing a couple of hidden camera pranks that some people have claimed are hoaxes, plus some comedy sketches. It likely took all of his good nature and acting skills to pull of this request that came from two of his sponsors, resulting in a virtual train wreck.

At the beginning of the review, Earnhardt is asked what he thinks of the car. It’s like hearing a little kid having to give a compliment to the girl he absolutely detests. He struggles to find the right words to describe the positive attributes of the Spark, hitting the points that undoubtedly were handed to him by some marketing executives before the cameras started rolling. It’s obvious that if he were asked his opinion about the SS or the Corvette Stingray his responses would have been more enthusiastic.

When asked what he drives, Earnhardt starts talking about his old 1976 Chevy Laguna and the other old Chevrolets he owns. His response to the question of whether he would drive the Spark as a way to fit blend in on the roads is rather awkward as he basically deflects it with humor and a nervous smile.

The painful review concludes with what must have been a nice surprise for Earnhardt: a production SS for him to perform a nice burnout. If you want to see the entire review for yourself, check it out below.