WILKES COUNTY, N.C. — Before the water and Sun Drop and champagne shower rained down in Victory Lane at a once-forgotten racetrack — and really before every little thing that made Wednesday night as magical as it was — Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood outside his car and soaked in the atmosphere at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
“When I was standing here before the race started, getting ready to get in the car, I almost wanted to cry,” Earnhardt Jr. said, his words captured in a widely circulated video taken by a reporter after the race Wednesday night. “It was so emotional. Every seat was filled. I still can’t believe this happened.”
Stars rarely align like this — in racing, in sports or in life.
