Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a strong fifth place result for JR Motorsports at Homestead. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked more like the driver who won the 1998 and 1999 NASCAR XFINITY Series championships than a racer who retired from full-time competition in 2017.
Typically making one to two starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, the 49-year-old Kannapolis, North Carolina native looked at home and ease in his No. 88 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet Camaro. Working with crew chief Jason Stockert, the co-owner of JR Motorsports has been especially competitive in his part time schedule this year.
Nevertheless, the NASCAR on NBC analyst and personality had his work cut out for him. Qualifying 23rd, deep in the field of 38 drivers for last Saturday’s Contender Boats 300, Earnhardt placed 13th and 16th in Stages 1 and 2.
Earnhardt and Stockert worked diligently to work on the handling of his car. Toward the end of the 200-lap race, it seemed like Stokert hit on the combination for Earnhardt to drive his No. 88 car more to his liking. By all means, Earnhardt was very pleased by the hustle and determination by Stockert and his team.
“Heck yea, I was on the top 10,” Earnhardt said to NASCAR on NBC’s Kim Coon. “The car was not doing what I wanted it to do but we worked on it. I sent us the wrong way, the first stage at the first break. Once we got that going and the guys figured out what to do, the car got better and we ran good enough to run fifth.”
It was a solid showing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Homestead despite contact with Josh Berry inside the final 30 laps. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
However, Earnhardt tangled with Josh Berry, his JR Motorsports teammate, inside the final 30 laps off Turn 2. The contact cut Berry’s tire, sending him into the wall and out of the race.
To his credit, Earnhardt took ownership of the unfortunate teammate tangle at Homestead.
“The Josh Berry deal, man, I didn’t know he was out there,” he said. “My spotter was saying all the right things but what I was hearing was something different, so I’ll put that on me. I got a little loose but I corrected it up the track like there was nobody there. I thought the No. 8 was coming through the middle.
“When I got loose, I was giving myself… I had a lot of room to chase it to the fence and then there was a car out there. And I hit that No. 8, so sorry about that.”
Still, Earnhardt acknowledged how he wants Berry’s tenure with JR Motorsports to end on a high note before his full-time graduation to the NASCAR Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 4 Ford Mustang.
It was a fine second and final 2023 start for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Homestead. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
At the same time, Earnhardt was pleased with his result and how he was able to be in the mix for a stellar showing at the 1.5-mile intermediate track.
“It’s not the way I wanted to send Josh off, right? I want to send him off with a win,” Earnhardt said. “Luckily, it didn’t hurt our car and we were able to finish really good, so I’m happy about it.”
