Silke Jasso
NASCAR fans breathed a sigh of relief when Dale Earnhardt Jr. got behind the wheel of a race car again earlier this year for the Daytona 500. For a moment, it was questionable as to whether or not the superstar would ever compete again. And now we wonder for how long.
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But one thing we don’t have to worry about is what Dale Jr. and a posse of his racing pals would do after they retire from the sport. It turns out that some of them have demonstrated some pretty decent acting skills.
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Comedic actor Adam Sandler showed up in the infield March 12 at the Cobalt 400 in Las Vegas, but he was actually there as the title character of his next Netflix movie, “Sandy Wexler.” According to IMDB, Sandy is a 1990s talent agent “representing a group of eccentric clients on the fringe of show business.”
In a Facebook video, Adam, or should we say “Sandy,” approaches drivers like Dale Jr., Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin to offer them racing advice in an attempt to get their business. For example, he tells Dale Jr. that his GPS device has helped him shave six minutes off of his commute and suggests a shortcut may help increase his wins. He also suggests that Austin Dillon adopt the moniker “The Gentleman Driver” and that he take the lead in races until time to cross the finish line where he then offers to the other drivers, “you first.” Austin politely replies, “Not a big fan of [that idea.]
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All of the drivers remain surprisingly stoic and display their impressive acting chops while Sandy asks them a battery of questions and makes insane suggestions, generally behaving as the polite gentlemen they are when faced with a smarmy agent. So maybe it wasn’t much of a stretch for them, but when Denny goes in for the hug and a handshake deal, it shows that Adam isn’t the only one with a funny bone.
Dale Jr., Kyle, Denny and the rest of the drivers don’t actually appear in the movie. Adam was merely shooting a promo for “Sandy Wexler,” which premieres April 14 on Netflix. But hey, those are pretty decent auditions!
