By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Making his first start of 2018, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a variation of expectations heading into Friday’s Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway.
Running his own XFINITY Series car, his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, he jumped to the top of the board in qualifying… for about four seconds. That’s when Christopher Bell topped Earnhardt’s time, pushing the No. 88 back to second place for the green flag.
From there, however, Earnhardt rose to become the car of the race, leading a race-high 96 laps while winning Stage 2 of the night. And until a caution flew with 30 laps to go, he looked to have his 25th career XFINITY win in his pocket.
“It’s easy to be disappointed that we didn’t win because we should have,” Earnhardt said. “I didn’t do a good job on that last restart. I was on the outside of the No. 2 and just spun the tires.”
Before the restart, Earnhardt lost the lead to Matt Tifft’s No. 2 off pit road. And on the ensuing restart, Earnhardt lost another spot… and then another two. The final restart with 14 to go pushed Earnhardt back to fifth before passing Tifft to finish fourth.
“I needed to be with [Tifft] into Turn 1 like the No. 20 was,” he said. “[Bell] did the job controlling the restart and he won the race.”
Coming in with unsure expectations, the two-time XFINITY champion was pleased to race up front in his racing return. And in his head, he checked off his goals for the night.
“I tried to come in here and just have fun, I want to race,” he said. “I want to do everything I got to do. Right around three-quarters of the way through the race I’m like, ‘Man, if I don’t win the race, now I’m going to be disappointed. I’m backing myself into a corner with my expectations getting too high.
“It’s not easy to come here and run well, especially not being in the car at all.”
Despite the time away, Earnhardt’s loose Chevrolet gelled perfectly with the tightening 0.750-mile track. That’s what made the difference in speed, said Earnhardt.
“I thought we’d get really, really tight as the race went on,” he said. “I was loose when the race started and I was OK if it got tighter. And it did. And I think that’s why we getting so good compared to everybody else. Our car was coming to the track.”
With a double-duty weekend of driving and NBC announcing for Saturday night’s Cup race, the weekend solidified Earnhardt’s decision to jump to the booth after retirement.
“I came here, ran today and I had fun,” he said. “But it made me really feel good about my decision to go into the booth. I had enough fun to do this again but not on too-regular of a basis.
“I don’t want to take away from what I’m doing in the booth. I like to be able to see everything I can so I understand what’s happening. That broadcast deal is something I want to work for a really long time.”
Though missing out on Victory Lane, Earnhardt called Friday night his most enjoyable race run since his late model days in the early years of his racing career.
A lot of that is contributed to his powerful drive up front. However, the moment of the night came before he even strapped into the car, as Earnhardt was met by wife Amy and daughter Isla Rose.
“She obviously won’t remember this but she’ll have the photographs,” he said of his daughter’s experience. “I don’t know what she’ll think of my racing career or how that will register since she won’t get to experience any of it.
“We got to have one race together. Amy wouldn’t miss it and Isla was here. A pretty important moment for me, personally.”