Bristol Motor Speedway never disappoints, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. can vouch for that. One of the most unforgettable, historic moments in its storied history came in 2004 when Junior won the Busch race and followed it up the very next evening by winning the Cup Series race. Junior, drenched in sweat under the lights, burst out of the No. 8 Chevrolet and let out, “It’s Bristol, baby!” That was in 2004, but in 2025, we saw how Christopher Bell delivered an absolute banger in the 500 laps, and Junior could not help but double down on the track’s legacy.

Last weekend’s Bristol race was nothing short of pure excitement across all NASCAR series. From the ARCA and Truck Series kicking off Thursday, to intense practices and qualifying sessions, to Xfinity’s Food City 300, and then the high-stakes Bass Pro Shops Night Race, every hour felt packed. The new softer right-side tires introduced for the Cup race added to the tension; drivers were sliding, managing wear, and choosing lines, while strategies came into sharper focus than usual. In the final laps of the Night Race, Christopher Bell charged from 5th to 1st with only four laps to go, holding off Brad Keselowski by 0.343 seconds; every second counted, and every move had weight. And Junior was all here for it.

Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Dale Junior didn’t hold back his praise: “What Bristol provided this weekend, it is the blueprint, in my opinion, of the weekend that a NASCAR fan wants. All the other tracks, like that’s the standard. That should be the bare minimum of what you would expect if you’re gonna go physically be there. And so a lot of times we go to these races, qualifying is an afterthought. It’s on an app. I would love to get some practice back.”

And Junior was right in pointing this out. Speed was only part of the equation; certainty was in short supply. Everyone knew that practice didn’t tell the whole story. Heat, track temperature, tire fall-off, and how traffic or caution might come into play were unknown. Drivers went into qualifying aware that what worked in practice might not translate into the race. In practice, drivers like Justin Haley, Ryan Blaney, and Carson Hocevar posted top numbers, stringing together fast laps as they balanced speed and durability.

Blaney ended up logging the most laps, 84, in this session, clearly trying to simulate race trim and learn how the track evolves as rubber is laid down. Drivers pushed immediately, trying to fill out the brand-new soft right-side tire that Goodyear introduced for this race because it was untested in warmer race conditions on this track; there was tension in the air.

Dale Junior added, “It conflicts with the idea of trying to save the team’s money. But man, the storylines that it creates and the opportunity for the fans to hear cars go into the garage, see teams working, and it makes it feel like there’s something going on, and I need to be here and I’m gonna bring my fifth wheel and hang out with my family, you know? It just felt like at Bristol this weekend, there was always something going on. There was some racing, noise, practice, action-packed, busy place.”

And Junior is right in calling it action-packed. The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol was marked by dramatic incidents and significantly impacted the playoff landscape. Early in the race, Josh Berry’s No. 21 Ford erupted in flames on lap 74, forcing him to exit the vehicle. A smoke filled the cockpit; his crew chief’s urgent calls for caution highlighted the severity of the situation, which ultimately led to Berry’s elimination from the playoff. Later on lap 385, Denny Hamlin’s right front wheel detached, sending his car into the outside wall and collecting AJ Allmendinger. The incident caused caution and resulted in a two-lap penalty for Hamlin’s team.

Further, the repercussions followed with NASCAR suspending two of Hamlin’s crew members for violating the rule against the loss or improper separation of a component during competition. Additionally, Austin Cindric’s car caught fire on lap 455, leading to a prolonged pitstop as his team struggled to extinguish the flames. Hamlin had expressed concerns over the situation, noting significant smoke inside Cindric’s car and suggesting that the window should’ve been popped open to aid in his escape. The Bristol Night Race saw too much.

And as the weekend went by and Christopher Bell broke his 24-race winless streak, Dale Junior couldn’t be happier about the Night Race at Bristol. But as Bristol remains Junior’s favorite, another memory still haunts him.

Dale Jr. recalls a devastating race at Thunder Valley, amidst praising it

Bristol Motor Speedway has always been a track of highs and lows for Dale Earnhardt Jr., both as a wide-eyed fan and as a competitor behind the wheel. Amid loving the new experiment of right-side tires in Bristol, Dale Jr. has nothing but praise to shower on his beloved track. In 35 career NASCAR Cup Series starts on the half-mile, high-banked oval, Junior managed just one win, but he also racked up eight top-five finishes and 16 top-tens along the way. Despite its challenges, Bristol has long held a special place in his heart. Yet, the memory Junior treasures most doesn’t come from his own time in the driver’s seat, but it belongs to his late father, Dale Earnhardt.

In the latest episode of the DJD, he revisited a story that has stuck with him since childhood. It was 1984, and Junior was only 10 at the time, and ‘The Intimidator’ was leading the race. He said, “Spins down the front straightaway, and all four tires are flat, and he’s kind of stuck, right? Trying to get going, and he gets lapped, and ended up losing the race. Terry Labonte won, and he (Dale Earnhardt) is in a battle for the championship with Terry, neck and neck for the most part up until that point in the season. And I remember, even at 10 years old, being aware enough that Dad spinning out of the lead and having four flat tires and losing a lap, all that was bad.”

Junior understood the weight of the moment, and Terry Labonte, after all, had one of the most consistent cars in the Series that year. He recalled, “And I’m like, ‘We can’t have races like this.’ I cried. I was sitting up on top of a comfort coach van, dead center of the infield. I remember looking across toward the flag stand and being able to barely kind of see Dad’s car between Dad and his pit crew and other vans and other obstacles and buildings and so forth. And just there he goes sliding backwards, and I’m like crap. I remember crying because it was heartbreaking. It was devastating, man. And that was why racing was amazing.” 

That night would prove costly. Labonte went on to win the championship, with Harry Gant finishing second, Bill Elliott third, and Earnhardt slipping to 4th. In hindsight, that Bristol Night Race felt like the beginning of the end of his father’s title hopes that year. But racing, as Junior noted, is full of redemption. For as crushing as the 1984 summer night was, much brighter days followed. ‘The Intimidator’ went on to dominate Bristol, winning nine of his 43 Cup Series starts there, collecting 20 top fives and 30 top 10s. And though he fell short to Labonte for the ’84 crown, he rebounded spectacularly, capturing six of his seven career Cup championships over the following decade.