POCONO, Pa. – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the latest that was enthusiastic, but optimistic about having the NASCAR XFINITY Series make their long-awaited debut in Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
Even though Earnhardt himself won’t be competing in the 100-lap event, he still has a dog in the fight fielding three NASCAR XFINITY Series entries for the second of 20 races ran during a period of 21 weeks.
“I am glad the XFINITY Series is here,” said Earnhardt. “Hopefully, this is a home for them for many, many years. It’s a unique track and presents some fun challenges and I think it’s fun for the fans and hopefully, I think, they will put on a good race.”
Earnhardt along with sister Kelley Earnhardt-Miller and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner Rick Hendrick share ownership of the three-car trio of JR Motorsports. This weekend, Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler will continue their bid towards the XFINITY Series chase, while Alex Bowman makes his second start of the season in the team’s “all-star” No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro.
With Mother Nature putting a hampering on-track activity Friday, the XFINITY Series embraced nearly two hours of practice Thursday which produced strong results for the organization. Between the two practice sessions, all three cars were never lower than 11th.
Realistically having a shot to contender for the inaugural trophy Saturday afternoon, Earnhardt said he was happy with the overall performance of the organization and remains hopeful for their fourth win of the season.
“I think our Xfinity program at JR Motorsports has had a great year,” added Earnhardt. “We’ve got some good things going; some confidence and I think they will just continue to get better. We’ve got a young group of crew chiefs that are all working really tight together. This is a fun race track.”
NASCAR’s most popular driver also praised track president and CEO Brandon Igdalsky who has continued to improve the facility since taking the reins in July 2007. Earnhardt applauded Igdalsky and his team for continuing to try new things and work to make the trip memorable for everyone.
From drivers to teams and fans alike.
“Brandon (Igdalsky) and his guys are racers and they put a lot into this place,” he said. “You would think that he is here every single day and this is all he does is ‘how can I make racing and the experience for the fans better at this race track.’
“He is always upgrading. It seems like whatever they get out of this place they put it right back in. He is a fun guy to want to work with and help. They have always treated me very well and it makes you want to do whatever you can to help them.”
Meeting with the media on Friday afternoon at Pocono, Earnhardt also took the time to reflect on his friendship with longtime XFINITY Series car owner Jimmy Means, who recently celebrated his 66th birthday this past Sunday, May 29.
“I went to North Wilkesboro on a Friday or Saturday with my dad. This was probably 1985. They didn’t have a garage, so everybody was parked on pit road and Jimmy was beside Dad. Dad introduced me to Jimmy. I was very little. But, it just so happened that Jimmy was parked there and I was really kind of new to the sport. I’d been coming to races as a kid, but I was starting to get to the age where I was starting to understand who the drivers were. But it was just circumstances that Jimmy was parked next to Dad and Dad was very conversational with Jimmy and I thought he must have been a good guy if Dad was so laid back with him.
“I got introduced shortly thereafter to Brad, Jimmy’s son. And me and Brad became best friends. Every time I went to the race track I looked for Brad; and every time Brad went to the race track, he looked for me. We’d spend the entire day at the track running around together just trying to get in trouble. But me and Brad, we still talk today. Brad’s a fabricator at Gibbs and still one of my best friends. He comes over at least once a week and we stay pretty current on what’s going on in each other’s lives and that keeps me in contact with Jimmy even to this day.”
In fact, Earnhardt called one of the proudest moments of his career when he allowed Means’ team to utilize one of the JRM backup cars for the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway in 2011 with driver Bobby Santos III.
“One of the biggest honors I ever had was when Jimmy wrecked his car at Daytona during SpeedWeeks, was loaning him one of our cars out of our haulers,” sounded Earnhardt. “We had four teams there with four back-up cars sitting in all those trailers. So to be able to give him a car to be able to compete that week was probably one of my proudest moments.”
Thanks to Earnhardt’s selfless act, they finished 17th.
“I think a lot of Jimmy. There’s a lot of guys like Jimmy in the history of the sport, but he’s been a fun guy to know. When you watch him do what he does with all the stuff he has or the limited budget he has, it definitely keeps things in perspective and makes you appreciate how fortunate you are to have the resources we have and have all the access to great equipment and great people. So, it certainly has helped keep me, I think, a little more grounded.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
