Dale Earnhardt Jr., who often raced at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, took a step back in time to help the future of the historic track.
Earnhardt, a retired NASCAR Hall of Fame driver, climbed back into a race car and competed in the Tootsie’s Music City Showdown in a zMAX Series CARS Tour race on April 11. It was his first time racing at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in 26 years, and an enthusiastic crowd of more than 12,500 welcomed back NASCAR’s 15-time Most Popular Driver.
Advertisement
They watched a field of 31 drivers in a 125-lap late model stock car race and stayed on their feet for the final 10 laps as Earnhardt’s teammate Caden Kvapil from Mooresville, North Carolina, took the lead in his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevy on a late restart and held on for nine laps for the victory. Kvapil’s older brother, Carson, drives for JR Motorsports, owned by Earnhardt, in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Parker Eatmon from Wilson, North Carolina, was second, and local favorite Dylan Fetcho from Lebanon, Tennessee, was third.
DALE EARNHARDT JR. ON THE FAIRGROUNDS: Why Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway must survive
Earnhardt, who qualified 25th, brought plenty of excitement by picking off 13 drivers to finish 12th on the 0.596-mile track.
Advertisement
With many in the crowd waiting around after the race just to get an up-close glimpse of Earnhardt, he said he was satisfied that he had done his part in proving stock car racing still belongs in Nashville.
“I thought Josh Berry (NASCAR Cup driver from Hendersonville, Tennessee) said it best, ‘Ain’t much more I can do unless I run for mayor.’ And I don’t know if I would win that one,” Earnhardt said.
He is co-owner of the zMAX Series with fellow former NASCAR Cup drivers Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, and current NASCAR Cup Series team owner Justin Marks.
It was Earnhardt’s idea to bring the series to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway to support leaseholder Bob Sargent’s effort to keep the track open, along with a proposal by Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith to renovate the venue and bring NASCAR back for the first time since 1984.
Advertisement
There has been pushback from some local residents and advocacy groups.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves ‘tough’ Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway
Earnhardt, 51, who never had a great deal of success at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway despite winning 26 NASCAR Cup Series races, said the track ran the same way it did for him back in the 1990s: Difficult.
“I love the track, and it’s tough,” he said. “It’s tougher than I remember. I came out here in my late model car and we ran great some nights and really, really bad some nights. And it was a long drive to come out here (from North Carolina) and race, but we loved it, and we kept coming back.”
Advertisement
Earnhardt qualified just six places from last in his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevy. He didn’t make a move until slipping up to 24th place on Lap 91. It took him 20 more laps before he moved up another place. By Lap 76 he was only up to 22nd, but that’s when he began to pass more cars in fewer laps.
With 58 laps to go, he was up to 16th place. The crowd roared each time Earnhardt passed a car. He zipped by four more cars the next 41 laps and settled in at 12th for the final 17.
“We never really had the car perfect, but we did run great laps all night, competitive laps,” Earnhardt said. “If somebody would qualify the car for me, maybe I could get up there and race for the win. I think at my age I’ve lost a step, at least in qualifying for sure.”
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Dale Earnhardt Jr. fared in race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway
Read the full article here
