Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s night at Bristol Motor Speedway was anything but routine, but the Hall of Famer came across the line seventh.
A solid qualifying effort netted Earnhardt Jr. the 13th starting spot on the grid, but radio issues immediately after the drop of the green flag relegated Earnhardt to the mid-30s in the running order.
After exchanging his helmet and radio, Earnhardt Jr. discovered that he no longer had his glasses, which had inadvertently been taken by the team on the first pit stop of the race. After clawing his way back to a 20th-place finish in Stage One, Earnhardt Jr.’s glasses were returned.
Earnhardt Jr.’s radio wasn’t done being the talking point of the night, however, as the device somehow ended up on both the floor of the car — which resulted in the radio being turned up to the max volume — and Earnhardt Jr.’s water bottle holder, knocking his water bottle into depths of the No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet.
Despite all the setbacks that came his way, Earnhardt Jr. came home with a clean car and a top-10 finish.
“The balance of the car was really good,” Earnhardt Jr. told NBC Sports. “I’m thrilled to come out here and be competitive.”
All indications point to Earnhardt Jr. not running an Xfinity Series race in 2025, but the two-time Xfinity Series champion left the door open to potentially running another race in two or three years.
“I need to work on my broadcasting with the new partners, I want to be great. I feel like I really need to focus on that. That’s the priority. Maybe I’ll get back in this thing. I’m sure I’ll end up missing it and signing up for something in 2026.”
Earnhardt’s seventh-place finish is the 96th top-10 result for the 1998 and 1999 Xfinity Series champion in 147 Xfinity Series starts.
