This weekend, Dale Earnhardt Jr is making his racing return with a one-off run at Richmond. Of course, in light of this, the driver spoke about the reason behind his return. Although he retired in 2017, he left the door open for one-off appearances in the Xfinity Series with his JR Motorsports team.

He said, “I love short track racing. So we’re looking at race tracks in southern part of the United States. Texas is on the table, as far west as Texas. Homestead is a little bit far south, that’s probably a little bit too far for what their demographic is, or what they’re aiming for.

“There’s some influence from the partnership, where they prefer our race. I don’t want to race in the Playoffs, I don’t want to be in the way.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr acknowledged that the Xfinity Series Playoffs are rapidly approaching. He knows that if he competes in a Playoff race, there is a chance that he could unintentionally interfere with the championship. Owing to this, he vowed to be as inconspicuous as possible.

What else did Dale Earnhardt Jr say?

However, his sponsor, Hellmann’s prefers not to have him run early in the season. When they tried it last year, it became very difficult to accomplish their goals. As a result, he and the sponsor are stuck with a narrow window squeeze in one Xfinity appearance.

Another important factor is choosing which region to race on. That alone narrows down the number of tracks where they can race on. On a personal note, Dale Jr would have preferred to race at Martinsville early in the year, but circumstances were not in his favor. Of course, the driver insisted that he will try to rally for a Martinsville appearance and will try and make it work for the sponsor.

READ MORE: “That’s My Boy” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Opens Up on Overtaking His Father