HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Ten days after turning 49, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. returned to Homestead-Miami Speedway in an Xfinity Series ride for the first time since 2020.
The experience was an eye-opener for the driver of the No. 88 Bass Pro Shops Club Card Chevrolet.
Still, after kicking off qualifying with a lap of 33.843 seconds (159.560 mph), the driver/owner easily locked his JR Motorsports Chevy into the field. He’ll start 23rd on Saturday.
“A little bit of old times with some new challenges,” Earnhardt said. “I’ve got a good race car, and we worked in the sim (simulator) to get me better. I’ve got a lot to improve on out there, but it’s tough. It’s tough to go out there and know how much you’ve got…20 minutes of practice, one set of tires.
“We had to quit early because we were going out there first—and I’m making a bundle of mistakes every lap just trying to figure out what the car can do, where the grip in the car is. Hopefully, in the race, I’ll clean up those things and can make a tidier lap and don’t make big mistakes that get me in the fence.”
After 17 Cup and six NXS starts on the 1.5-mile track, Earnhardt understands the fast line is around the top of the track. He also knows it’s easy to get lulled into a false sense of security–and the consequences that might follow.
“I think the worst thing for a guy that’s never ran here—or someone like me who hasn’t run here in four years—is to get up there, get too confident and get into the wall. If you hit the wall, you can cut the right rear tire real easy. If you lose a set of tires in this race, your race is over with.
“You want to run that fence, but if you don’t drive these cars every week you can easily get down a set of tires really quick.”
Earnhardt has competed in one NXS race in each of the last six seasons since retiring from full-time Cup competition and moving into the NBC Sports booth. This year, he’s running in two events—the Bristol Night Race and Homestead. Before a parts failure at Bristol last month, which sidelined the No. 88 Chevy with 29 laps remaining in the race, Earnhardt’s post-retirement average finish was 7.8.
Earnhardt finished fifth when he last raced at Homestead in 2020. His best result at the South Florida track is second in 1999. Since climbing out of the Cup car, he has mainly focused on short tracks—including his last three NXS start. What’s the greatest challenge acclimating to a larger track?
“It’s just so slick,” Earnhardt said. “It’s really, really slick. You’re never really full-throttle through the corner here. You’re like 10-20 percent throttle throughout the corner, working the wheel. It’s very precise. You have to be really, really smart and careful.
“I like it because it is a lot of off-throttle. In terms of a mile-and-a-half, it’s one of the slower ones. You’ve got to drive the car. You’ve got to have a good car, and you’re not on the mat, running wide-open through the corner. That’s not what I want to be doing at 49 years old.
“This is a perfect race track for an old fellow.”
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