For the first time in nearly a year, one of the most popular drivers in the history of motorsports was back in the driver’s seat for a NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. jumped behind the wheel of the No. 88 Hellman’s Mayonnaise Chevrolet Camaro as part of a deal with the sponsor. Essentially, Earnhardt runs this race in the Hellman’s car and then the company sponsors other drivers on Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports team throughout the season. Junior retired from racing full-time after the 2017 Cup Series season, but the 49-year-old still likes to jump behind the wheel in a Xfinity race or two each year in addition to some on-and-off racing in the late model CARS Tour.
But impressively, despite a chaotic and wild night, Earnhardt finished seventh in his return to one of the highest tiers of NASCAR.
And he did that battling a flurry of problems, errors, fumbles and issues at the Food City 300.
His radio went out. He replaced his helmet. He replaced his wiring harness. He lost his glasses. His radio fell on the floor. His water bottle fell on the floor. He couldn’t read the numbers on the dash. The radio volume turned up way too loud. He ran part of the race without a spotter.
On and on and on.
Just about everything that could go wrong for Dale Jr. did. And he still finished in the top-10 in his first Xfinity race since last October.
Recap of Dale Jr.'s night so far:
— Major radio issues at the start, about loses his mind. Eventually pits several times for new helmet (didn't work), new wiring harness (not sure worked) and has a push-to-talk radio attached to his chest. Drops to last place several times.
–…
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) September 21, 2024
After losing his glasses early in the race, Earnhardt just did the rest of the race without them.
“I just can’t see the dash, can’t read like the little numbers. They were like, ‘how hot is it?’ And I’m like, ‘It’s 200-something.’ I can see out the windshield just fine.”
No glasses, no problem for DaleJr, whose glasses ended up inside the helmet he was having an issue with early in the race. pic.twitter.com/aOIfXAa0gu
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 21, 2024
Dale Jr don't need no spotter pic.twitter.com/xSb0AyeoWB
— Skewcar (@Skewcar) September 21, 2024
After the race, which marked Dale Jr.’s 356th top-10 finish of his career, he celebrated the way everyone expected him to, with beers on pit road with friends and fellow drivers long into the night.
The beers are out on pit road for Dale Earnhardt Jr
Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman join in pic.twitter.com/YKUk3piVex
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) September 21, 2024
Ninety minutes after the checkered flag, @DaleJr’s post-race celebration rolls on with a fresh delivery of beer.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/yX7IxZvIRJ
— Zach Sturniolo (@zachstur) September 21, 2024
Drank beer on pit road till 2am. I think we got everything out of this evening we possibly could. Recommend 10 out of 10. Would come again @ItsBristolBaby
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) September 21, 2024
According to NASCAR, Earnhardt currently holds the longest active streak of consecutive seasons with at least one national series start. The 1998 and 1999 Xfinity champion currently doesn’t have a deal in place to race at Bristol next year, but he hasn’t ruled out a return to the series for 2025 or 2026.
“I’m not planning on racing next year, (but) I’d be foolish to say I’m never going to run again because I don’t know well enough to stay away from it, and I’ll probably miss it next year and be absolutely willing to sign up for anything that might be beneficial to JR Motorsports,” Earnhardt said. “Right now, I don’t have any plans, but that’s the way I like it.”
In the meantime, fans will have to catch Dale Jr. in the broadcast booth, on his podcast or on the CARS Tour.
