DARLINGTON, S.C.: Two weeks following a private plane crash en route to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was all smiles ahead of his NASCAR Xfinity Series return at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
“I’m feeling great,” Earnhardt told reporters Friday afternoon in his first public comments since the crash. “Real nervous about getting in the car just because I haven’t been in a car in a really long time.
Earnhardt’s Cessna Citation rolled off the runway and caught fire at the Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee on Thurs. Aug. 15. Earnhardt’s wife Amy, daughter Isla and dog Gus and two pilots all walked away with minimal injuries.
Days following the incident, Earnhardt revealed on Twitter his lower back was heavily bruised – but the family took the last two weekends to recover emotionally, mentally and physically.
“Things have been great,” Earnhardt added. “We’ve been taking some time to ourselves. Things have been very good. My wife loves to be at the races when I’m driving, so her and Isla are going to come and be here. That’ll be great.”
While thankful to be alive, Earnhardt declined to answer specific questions related to the crash.
“We’re very, very blessed, very lucky and very thankful. I just feel very lucky, of course.”
Earnhardt said he “doesn’t have any problem with flying again” but admitted the plane crash “was a very tough experience to go through.”
“I try not to think about that too much. Things happen for a reason. You just try to learn from it and move on,” he said. “I love my daughter so much and enjoy being around here and look forward to watching her grow up and experience a lot of things with her going forward.
“That just made me realize that much more. I’m just thankful and ready to live our lives.”
The 44-year-old Earnhardt retired from full-time competition following the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series but had commitments with his NASCAR Xfinity Series team JR Motorsports for two races in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Earnhardt ran at Richmond (Va.) Raceway last fall where he qualified second, led 96 laps and finished fourth. The second race is this weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, site of Saturday afternoon’s Sport Clips VFW 200.
Earnhardt said on Friday that he “feels great” and wouldn’t compete in this weekend’s race if there was any danger of causing long term injury to himself.
“I’ve got a lot of great people around me that our supportive and I’ve got a lot of great contacts of people to help me with any hurdles and obstacles I may have but I don’t foresee any problems,” he said.
“I wasn’t sure (if I’d be able to drive) but my back healed really quickly. I drove a two-seater yesterday for an hour-and-half and didn’t have one issue. And that seat wasn’t even my seat. I just felt getting back to the track and hitting everything ‘head on’ was the best approach.”
He added should sponsor Hellmann’s pick-up their option year in 2020, he’d like to run the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway which has been moved from November to March next season.
“It’s a real blessing for me to be able to run at least one race a year and sort of relive my past,” Earnhardt said. “That’s kind of why I picked this race at Darlington because it’s a throwback weekend and such a great celebration to the history of the sport.”
Even with just one race on his schedule this season, Earnhardt is putting pressure on himself at the “Lady in Black.”
“I just don’t want to let anybody down. I don’t want to underperform,” he explained. “I like to come into these races that I do at this point in my career just to have fun – smell the smells, hear the sounds, just enjoy racing somebody, whether it’s for first or last.
“That’s really the focus for me right now – is to make sure I’m having fun. I don’t need to make it more difficult than it needs to be.”
In the first Xfinity Series practice at Darlington, it appears Earnhardt is worrying for nothing after turning the fifth quickest lap in the session.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
