“Long Into My 50s”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Open to Race More, but Not Necessarily in NASCAR

No pun intended, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on fire at Bristol. Despite being the oldest driver on the grid, Junior not only led 47 laps, but he was on his way to a great result. Of course, his race ended early because of a fire on his foot. Yet Earnhardt gave enough reasons for his fans to yearn for more than one race per year in NASCAR from the veteran.

But the question is, at 48, is Earnhardt willing to race more? And if so, just how long would he realistically keep up with his passion? The answer should come as a delight for his fans.

However, it’s worth mentioning that along with his one-off races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Earnhardt Jr. also races in the Late Models in the CARS Tour Series. And his experience in both is naturally different.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. can race into his 50s but not necessarily in NASCAR

Speaking after the Xfinity race at Bristol, Earnhardt Jr. opened up on his experience of being back in the racecar. He claimed that he feels “more comfortable” in the Xfinity car, that he knows what he’s doing and he’s aware of what to expect from the tires and so on. As for the Late Model Stock car, Junior is unsure of “what to feel” and he needs to race it a lot to get better at it.

But how long will he race for?

“I could see myself running that car long into my 50s if I wanted to because I wouldn’t care as much about how competitive I am,” Earnhardt said of the Late Model Stock car as per Sportsnaut.

“But here, this is the second highest level of NASCAR and I only want to race here if I think I can do it well and wouldn’t do it unless I felt like I belonged there.”

When will Earnhardt Jr. stop racing completely?

Now, even though Earnhardt claimed he would be comfortable racing into his 50s, and that he would be running as long as he could, that doesn’t mean he would not stop. “I like running one here and one there, but certainly not until I’m 60 years old,” he said.

“I still feel young. I overachieved tonight in my eyes in terms of how I ran.”

Earnhardt’s biggest takeaway from his impressive run in Bristol was that he “gained some confidence” to do more of these ‘one here one there’ races in NASCAR Xfinity for “a couple more years.”

But after that, perhaps, his fans should expect most of his racing to come in the Late Model Stock cars and not NASCAR.