Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Late Model Stock Car, looks focused during Friday’s practice sessions at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. (Photo: Travis Haston | The Podium Finish)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The dry, cooling air at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway carries more than just the scent of spent fuel and tire rubber on this Friday evening. For Dale Earnhardt Jr., it carries the weight of three decades of memories and the high stakes reality of a series owner trying to balance nostalgia with professional execution in his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.
As the zMAX CARS Tour prepares for its showcase event at the historic 0.596 mile oval, the man at the center of the storm is finding himself caught between his past as a young, hungry racer and his present as the most influential figure in short track racing. Returning to the venue where he sharpened his skills in the late 1990s, Earnhardt looks less like a retired NASCAR Hall of Famer and more like a driver eager to prove he still belongs in the cockpit.
“Regular weekly shows is incredible,” Earnhardt said after his late model stock car practices. “And we love being a part of that. Whatever opportunity that we had, when Myrtle Beach had an off weekend and we could leave our home track, we came here.”
The journey to Nashville was not always the streamlined, professional operation it is today. Earnhardt recalled the grassroots nature of his early trips to the Music City, back when the road trip was just as much a part of the experience as the checkered flag.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. navigates the famed 0.596 mile oval, a track he says holds many “great memories.” (Photo: Travis Haston | The Podium Finish)
“We would stop halfway on the highway halfway between home and Nashville and get in the creek and break the trip in half,” Earnhardt recalled with a smile. “Pull off on some country store and climb in the creek and cool off. We did that on the way home, too. We’d stop for an hour and just do balls in the river or whatever, and we loved it. We really loved it.”
Those moments of simplicity define the connection Earnhardt has with the Fairgrounds. While the city around the track has transformed into a global entertainment hub, the challenge short track and its steep banking of the speedway remain a time capsule.
“I’ve got a lot of emotions and memories, great memories, from racing here,” Earnhardt said. “And I’m thankful to be able to be here today and the track be as I remember it, and still having the same, you know, vibe and feeling. And yeah, so we got a big race tomorrow. I hope all that goes well.”
However, the sentimentality is quickly tempered by the logistical reality of his role. Earnhardt is not just here to race. He is here as a co-owner of the CARS Tour, a responsibility that often creates a mental tug of war when he buckles into the seat.
“I’m racing in the race, but you gotta remember, I’m also an owner of the series,” Earnhardt explained. “So I’m very conscious of our operations, our processes, that we have a good, clean, fair race for the integrity for our competitors. And sometimes we get that right, sometimes we don’t. So it’s hard sometimes because I’m in the car getting mad about things that are happening on the racetrack that I wish weren’t, or I wish that we were doing better as a series. But I mean, you know, you’re gonna have that. You’re never gonna be satisfied.”
Beyond driving duties, Dale Earnhardt Jr. remains conscious of the CARS Tour operations, prioritizing a clean, fair race for all competitors, including Caden Kvapil. (Photo: Travis Haston | The Podium Finish)
The technical challenge of the Fairgrounds has not lessened with time. During Friday’s sessions, Earnhardt and his JR Motorsports team worked through the nuances of a track that is notorious for chewing up tires and demanding precision. After a Thursday practice session that lacked the clarity of modern data, Friday offered a clearer picture of where the No. 8 team stands.
“The track is always something you wish you could do a little bit better, but I feel pretty happy about where we’ve kind of netted out with the rest of the competition,” Earnhardt said. “Yesterday we had a practice and it wasn’t electronic, so we really didn’t know what everybody else was running lap time wise. But today, we had the electronic scoring, so we could kind of look at everybody’s laps.”
For Earnhardt, the focus has shifted from raw speed to raceability. While he admits his qualifying prowess has faded over the years, he remains confident in his ability to navigate the long runs that define Late Model Stock racing in Nashville.
“I was happy with my mock run, my little pretend qualifying run, and then we made a lot of race runs and I like where our lap times are,” Earnhardt noted. “I’ve been kind of a notoriously bad qualifier at this age of my life, so I’m hoping to pull out a miracle and qualify somewhere in the top 10. And if we do that, I think we’d race really well. I think we’ll race well either way, but if I don’t qualify well, it’ll just be a fun night just trying to work our way forward if we can.”
The significance of the CARS Tour’s presence in Nashville cannot be overstated. By bringing the series to this venue, Earnhardt and his partners are pushing the boundaries of what has traditionally been a regional Mid Atlantic circuit. It is a calculated risk aimed at elevating the profile of short track stars like rising talent Caden Kvapil and recent alum Brenden Queen.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving his No. 8 Chevrolet, practices in the cooling Friday evening air as the sun sets over the historic speedway. (Photo: Travis Haston | The Podium Finish)
“The track is exactly the way I remember it years ago,” Earnhardt said. “It is a lot of fun. All of our competitors and drivers and teams are thrilled to be in Nashville. Most of our racing series has a small footprint in the Mid Atlantic region of the country, in North Carolina and South Carolina, Virginia. We don’t go farther west really than Newport or Kingsport, Tennessee. And so this was a big ask for our teams travel wise and cost, but the opportunities you have in Nashville for food and nightlife and so forth more than make up for it.”
The economic impact and the “big city” feel of the event are part of the growth strategy for the CARS Tour. By providing a stage like Nashville, the series offers its teams a taste of the professional atmosphere found in the higher ranks of NASCAR.
“It’s just a great town, and I think our teams are already enjoying the weekend,” Earnhardt said. “So a lot of them will probably stay over Saturday night and drive home Sunday, so it’s gonna be fun. The old place is full of emotions and, oh yeah, 25, well, 30 years ago.”
As the sun sets over the Nashville skyline, Earnhardt’s mind drifts back to the late Bob Harmon, the legendary promoter who once ruled this roost. The memories of those early Friday practices are what keep Earnhardt coming back, long after most drivers of his era have hung up the helmet for good.
“I know the first time I came here, we came to practice on a Friday before a Saturday show,” Earnhardt said. “And I was running my car every weekend on the Friday night at Florence, South Carolina, and Saturday night at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And when we had an off weekend, we came here. Bob Harmon, I believe, was the promoter at the time, and you guys had Late Model Stocks as a feature.”
Tonight, the ghosts of those erstwhile 1990s runs will ride shotgun with Earnhardt. Whether he finds the miracle qualifying lap he’s looking for or has to charge from the back, the mission remains the same: honor the history of the Fairgrounds while building a sustainable future for the series he loves.
The engines will fire on Saturday night, but for Dale Earnhardt Jr., the win might have already happened just by being back in the creek side town that shaped his legendary career. For the fans in Nashville and the teams in the garage, it is more than just a race. It is a homecoming for the sport’s most beloved ambassador.
