Its official fan favourite, Dale Earnhardt Jr., will return to NASCAR in 2025 to compete in a handful of small-scale races. Earnhardt made his preliminary announcement by Instagram on August 29, igniting a shockwave of reactions from his 1 million followers. Followers had been baffled, attempting to determine if the information was too good to be true, however now that it’s confirmed, pleasure is the key phrase. Many are wanting to see Junior, as he’s affectionately identified, get behind the wheel for the primary time since his 2017 retirement.
Since stepping away from racing, he’s appeared on NBC Sports activities as a race analyst and owns and operates J.R. Motorsports. JR Motorsports is dwelling to Xfinity drivers Smith, Mayer, Allgaier, Jones, Honeycutt, Kvapil, and Lapradd. Beneath Earnhardt’s course, the staff has secured 81 wins and three Xfinity Sequence championships. 50-year-old Earnhardt additionally has two victories within the Xfinity Sequence and 26 Cup wins, however he’s keen so as to add extra, and 2025 will give him room to try this.
The place and Why Dale Earnhardt Jr. Plans to Race
Now that the mud has settled surrounding his return, Dale Earnhardt Jr. can lastly give attention to his race schedule. Followers have been keen ever because the August announcement, speculating on the race he’ll run to kick off his comeback. It was a toss-up for the 26-time champion, nevertheless it wasn’t a shock when he selected Florence Motorspeedway in South Carolina. Earnhardt is not any stranger to the observe and just lately participated in a comfortable run there in November.
Throughout this run, the NASCAR icon resurrected the traditional pink and black Budweiser paint scheme and No. 08 for the primary time since leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2007. Publish-2007, Junior modified to the No. 88 as soon as it was introduced on June 13, 2007, that he’d be becoming a member of Hendrick Motorsports. Stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, who acquired DEI after his father’s passing in 2001, didn’t launch the No. 8 trademark to him, so he couldn’t carry it to Hendrick, however that will quickly change.
On June 3, 2024, when Teresa formally determined to not renew the No.08 trademark, Dale Earnhardt Jr. jumped on the alternative to accumulate it. Nevertheless, for Junior, it’s by no means been about having the quantity. It brings again reminiscences of his NASCAR begin along with his father, which appears to have kickstarted his current run in Florence. Although Florence was unsuccessful and the No. 8 succumbed to mechanical points, leaving him unable to complete the race, he’s looking forward to 2025.
Will Extra Races be Added Within the Future?
At this level, the urgent query on everybody’s minds is whether or not Dale Earnhardt Jr. will probably be including extra races apart from the South Carolina 400. In line with NASCAR insiders, Earnhardt won’t run on a full-time schedule however will run three further races. The races will happen in April, August, and October, however actual dates, instances, and venues are but to be decided. Even so, the No. 08 will function fan-favorite paint schemes within the 4 races, together with Bass Professional Outlets, Sundrop, and the ever-popular Budweiser pink. These nostalgic schemes give diehard Dale Jr. followers one thing to be enthusiastic about, but it’s laborious to decipher if he’ll add extra races.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a dedication as a NASCAR broadcaster for Amazon Prime and TNT for a handful of Cup Sequence occasions, making including extra races tough. He’s slated to cowl a few of NASCAR’s most notable occasions, just like the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in Could and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in July. In fact, followers will speculate that the two-time Daytona 500 winner and son of Dale Earnhardt Sr. will race once more. It’s solely pure, however Junior has a really totally different outlook.
The No. 8 driver touts himself as a man who loves racing, and it exhibits along with his decisions in particular tracks like Cordele and Anderson Motorspeedways. In truth, these are two of probably the most talked about smaller-scale tracks he has a watch on for 2025. Dale Earnhardt Jr. sees racing at this degree as extra private as a result of not solely will he get to race, however he additionally will get to work together along with his followers one-on-one. It’s like Dale Earnhardt Jr. mentioned himself, “I’ll see ya’ll in August,” a day that has been dreamt of since his preliminary retirement in 2017, so see him we will.
Last Ideas
Although diehard Dale Earnhardt Jr. followers really feel they need to pinch themselves as a result of they’re dreaming, he’s actually returning in 2025. Many appeared to imagine he’d stay in retirement, however he couldn’t face up to the urge to remain out of a race automobile. In 2025, as he steps again into the traditional No. 08, Earnhardt hopes to resurface the champion inside and win a race or two. Undoubtedly, he can obtain that along with his profitable observe file and the urge to proceed his legacy, so can he reign supreme as soon as once more? Many followers appear to assume so, however is the hypothesis too far off the rails?
