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“Like to Run Short Tracks” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Announces He Will Race at Richmond in NASCAR Xfinity Series 2021

Published 05/04/2021, 12:30 PM EDT

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Dale Earnhardt Jr will return to the race track on September 11th, in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Richmond Raceway. Dale Jr’s one race every year is one of the highly anticipated events and JR Motorsports announced Dale Jr’s Richmond entry on Tuesday.

Earnhardt’s no. 8 car will be sponsored by Unilever, with his ‘United for America’ paint scheme honoring the victims from the 9/11 attacks.

Dale Jr. prefers to run the short tracks and the Richmond race fits perfectly into his plans, considering many different aspects. However, he revealed that he is very keen on driving at Martinsville as well sooner than later.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr straps into a NASCAR car after one year

I like to run the short tracks and there’s only a couple to choose from. I want to maybe eventually run Martinsville, that’s still a plan for me going forward,” Dale Jr. expressed on the ‘Ask Jr’ segment of the Dale Jr. Download.

But this year we’re going to Richmond and it’s also the second Richmond event which is also an NBC event,” he added.

The former Hendrick Motorsports star wants to enjoy a good long run in the Richmond race to get into his groove at a track he likes.

“Hopefully it’s a good long-run race because that’s where my strongest suit would be. Looking forward to get back in the car and I know that track really well, really comfortable,” he continued.

“Not as nervous as Darlington or Homestead”

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He went on to say that he would be really nervous about racing at bigger tracks like Darlington or Homestead-Miami. Racing on such tracks after a long gap and especially without practice and qualifying can get really tricky. The 46-year-old is quite excited about the Richmond race.

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“I’m not as nervous about this one as I’d be at maybe Darlington or Homestead…Just firing off as I’ve not been in the car for over a year, so. Should be pretty fun,” Earnhardt expressed.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition in 2017. Since then, he has been making a one-off appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series every season, making the 2021 race the 4th such instance. He last ran the Richmond Xfinity Series race in 2018 and finished in 4th place.

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Written by:

Aayush Majumdar

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Aayush Majumdar is a NASCAR content strategist, a Tennis Writer, and a sports analyst at EssentiallySports. He is well-tenured as a tennis and NASCAR writer, with over 900 articles across both sports. After pursuing a Post Graduate program in Sports Management, Aayush explored various roles in Sports Media, including a Sports Reporting role at a leading English daily.
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