Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to swap helmets mid-race while trying to fix a broken radio — and lost his glasses in the process. Despite all that, he rebounded to finish seventh and emerged from the car smiling.
"Yes, I did (have fun)," he told The CW. "I was worried because it was heading in the wrong direction there quickly. We were having some problems with our helmet and wiring and stuff on the late model, but there may be something in this harness ... You do your best, right? We tried not to lose any laps, we tried to figure out how to get it right, and finally got it to where I could hear."
The drama began from the drop of the green flag when Dale Jr. was unable to hear his race team at certain parts of the half-mile short track. He pitted under the first caution but the JR Motorsports crew wasn't prepared to fix the issue.
He drove from the very back to 24th when a caution involving race leader Justin Allgaier gave him another opportunity to pit. The team scrambled to give him a new helmet while keeping the No. 88 Chevrolet on the lead lap.
Fixing the issue but losing his glasses
At first, he thought the issue was fixed, but Earnhardt quickly realized it wasn't. He came back down pit road where they replaced the wiring harness and finally, it was working properly. With the stressful ordeal resolved after 60+ laps, jokes started to fly across the newly fixed radio. Earnhardt humorously questioned why he needed longtime friend and spotter T.J. Majors after running the entire first run without being able to hear him.
The team then asked if he wanted his glasses back, which he thought were lost on the floorboards of the car while switching the helmets. As it turned out, they left the car with the old helmet.
"Can you wipe them off? I'm sure they're tore to sh*t after that," remarked the 49-year-old.
The ensuing restart nearly saw his day end as Greg van Alst slid up the track, leading to contact between Junior and Leland Honeyman as they tried to check up. He then began the march forward, ending the first stage in 19th place.
He stayed out as the leaders filed down pit road, moving up to eighth in the running order. Around this time, the radio fell down and the volume turned itself up, so he asked his team not to yell at him as the race got back underway. He hung on well despite those with fresher rubber close behind, remaining inside the top-ten. The team finally returned his glasses before the conclusion of Stage 2, crossing the line in ninth after a tense multi-car battle.
"That was fun as sh*t," he radioed, really enjoying himself as he mixed it up with the series regulars. During the final stage, he found himself locked into a fantastic, if not frustrating battle for fifth with Ryan Truex. He never did get by and had to settle for seventh in his 147th start.
Junior came over the radio to thank his team for the effort before adding: "Yeah, we'll probably do another one in a couple years." He already confirmed that he won't make any starts next year, but despite turning 50 next month, he's not quite done yet.
"The balance of the car was really good," Earnhardt said post-race. "Dropped the jackbar to try and help the free in and didn't need to do that. That probably cost me a spot or two but I'm thrilled. To come out here and be competitive. Man, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to be competitive. I can come out here for another 20 years, but eventually these young kids just get to be so good. It's fun to be able to run with them tonight."
