Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the talk of the town following the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. What some are possibly considering his last race in the sport, the veteran driver had some pretty interesting moments on track while battling his peers such as Shane van Gisbergen and Ryan Truex in a bit to get the highest possible finish.
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Eventually, he settled with a seventh-place finish, which is pretty good considering he isn’t a regular anymore behind the wheel. Following the race, van Gisbergen was seen speaking with Junior once out of his car.
When asked by the media what he told Junior, the Kiwi humorously mentioned, “Just helped him out of the car, he’s pretty old you know. But no we had a pretty fun race at the start, let him go. Then at the cooldown lap, he’s smashing into me. So yeah, a lot of fun.”
SVG and Ryan Truex greet Dale Jr pic.twitter.com/NekaLusfgg
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) September 21, 2024
Junior also had issues with his in-car radio communications during the early half of the race, which led him into the pits multiple times — ceding track position every time. He also had a problem when his glasses seemed to have gone missing, but it was later found in the helmet which he handed over to his pit crew.
Ryan Truex talks about racing alongside Earnhardt Jr.
During the closing stages of the race, there was an interesting battle unfolding between Junior and Ryan Truex. The former was in 6th position at the time, trying to take 5th from Truex. The JR Motorsports co-owner managed to get up close but was not able to carry enough speed to make the pass. Eventually, Junior was passed by Brandon Smith, who shuffled him down to seventh.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishes seventh in his annual @NASCAR_Xfinity one-off
His crew loads up as he's holding court on pit road pic.twitter.com/Pi3NveoVqh
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) September 21, 2024
Following the race, Truex spoke about how he enjoyed racing with Earnhardt Jr. He said, “He made me work for it and I made him work for it. I knew when he was behind me, he was probably like dammit this 20 car will not get out of my way and I was thinking to myself I’m not just going to give it to you. I know everybody loves you and I love you too but it was fun to race him hard and obviously raced him with respect.”
Both drivers raced each other hard but remained respectful. Junior was seen lifting off the gas several times to not hit Truex from the rear. It was a fun battle to witness for the fans.
