Dale Earnhardt Jr. reflects on what may have been his final lap in the NASCAR Xfinity Series under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway, Tennessee. Despite facing numerous communication issues, Earnhardt Jr. finished the race in a respectable seventh-place finish.
The event was marred by early radio failures which began during the pace laps, hounding Earnhardt and his team for the initial stretch of the race. Whilst speaking to the media after the race, Earnhardt Jr commented:
“We had a radio harness or something went out under the pace laps and didn’t have a radio for about 50 laps.
“Swapped out the earplugs, still didn’t work. Swapped out the helmet, still didn’t work. So probably ran about 120 laps without really much communication with TJ.
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“And finally, they stuck a radio with a short harness in it and a button I could clip to my chest, and I could hear them and talk back under caution, but it worked out, and we didn’t lose any lap or anything.
“So just as frustrating as that is, it was important not to give up and lose a lap or anything and try to salvage what we could because we had a top-10, top-five car. And I’m glad we were able to get a good result with those issues.”
Despite these hurdles, Earnhardt battled his way through to finish seventh, even engaging in a competitive duel with Ryan Truex for the fifth position during the final 93 laps.
“I needed him to slow down a little bit.
“I don’t know. He was loose, and I was tight, and I almost could get to his right rear in Turn 4, but I was worried about jumping the cushion, hitting the fence. But I was getting tight. We dropped the track bar and didn’t really need to on that last run. Fun racing him.
“I was trying to pass him because I knew Martin was watching, and I was like, ‘I bet Martin’s pulling for him.’ So I wanted to beat him so I could rub it into (Martin) Truex. We’re going hunting in a couple weeks.”
As for his future, Earnhardt signaled that this race might mark the end of his competitive driving in the Xfinity Series. With no sponsors pushing for a return and new commitments in broadcasting with Prime Video and TNT Sports, he’s ready to pivot his focus.
“I mean, if I don’t ever run again, I’m happy at 50 years old to jump in once and run top 10.
“I know there was some guys named (Harry) Gant and (Bobby) Allison that were winning races in their 50s. So I know it’s damn doable. It’s not anything too crazy. But not doing it every week, man, you certainly come in here feeling like you’re handicapped, and you’ve gotta drink from the fire hose trying to figure out what’s going on and getting up to speed.
“I loved every lap. It was great.
“I mean, I got everything I wanted out of this, and I’ll miss it next year. I’m certain I’ll probably sign up for somewhere else. Trying not to already start thinking about, where would I run? Where do I want to run?
“But I definitely do want to take next year off, focus on my broadcasting and get my boots on and get back to work there, make sure I’m doing a good job for that. That’s my priority, that and my family.”
