The Xfinity race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway brought in a myriad of emotions for Dale Earnhardt Jr. The 2 x Xfinity Champion drove alongside race-winning driver Sam Mayer from his team, JR Motorsports. Eventually, Dale Jr finished 5th behind Richard Childress Racing’s #21 driver and rival title contender Austin Hill.

Prior to the penultimate race in Martinsville, the Hall of Famer graciously invited Hill on his podcast to discuss mounting playoff pressure on the drivers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr set aside track allegiance to comfort rival Xfinity racer

Veteran racer Dale Earnhardt Jr is no stranger to the intense pressure that becomes an intrinsic part of a racer’s life. Anxiously waiting six days for a single chance that could make or break your entire season. And NASCAR drivers are subjected to that for 10 months out of the year. Not only did Dale Jr experience it during his multiple title runs as a racer but now, as a team owner, the burden is no less pressing.

Among the drivers fielded by Junior’s team, two racers qualified for the Round of 8 in the Xfinity Series. Homestead winner Sam Mayer confirmed his Championship 4 spot last weekend. But JR Motorsports’ #7 driver Justin Allgaier finished 15th and cradled the cut-off line with -3 points. On his opposite shore with +3 points, Austin Hill was just as uncertain about his future chances. In a heartwarming gesture, Dale Jr decided to keep on-track conflicts aside and enquired about Hill’s well-being prior to the deciding race in Martinsville this weekend. 

In the Dale Jr Download podcast, the veteran empathetically explained, “People don’t understand the h*ll that puts a driver through, having to sit all week at that number, just right there at the cut line, not being safe, not knowing your fate right? Going to Martinsville of all the d*mn places.” Hill fervently agreed, owing to his previous track record on the oval. “Yeah Martinsville, if you look at my stats there, they are not the greatest. I finish well there, but throughout the race, there are stages and things like that.”

Although the #21 driver had a favorable average finish of 9.7, he only had one Top 5 finish and 8 led laps in his three recent races at Martinsville. Hill continued, “Normally I don’t run very well there, so the stress level is very high this week. And I’m normally one guy that doesn’t stress out much, normally pretty even keel. But this week, knowing that I’m +3 in the cutoff and I’ve seen it kind of go this way before. Even when I ran Trucks, I’ve been right on that cut off and it seems like every year I’m eluded the final 4.” 

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Dale Earnhardt Jr could not qualify for the playoffs in his last full season in 2017 and had undergone the crushing disappointment of the very failure that plagued Austin Hill.

Earnhardt Jr knew how it felt to be excluded from the ‘cool group’

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In the 18th year of his Cup Series career, Dale Earnhardt Jr was finally ready to hang his helmet. But the 2 x Daytona 500 winner wanted his final year before retirement to be memorable. Unfortunately, Dale Jr could not pose any victories in the 2017 season and thus, failed to qualify in the regular season finale at the Richmond Raceway. The pain of that defeat, however, haunted him for all these years.

Prior to the regular season finale of his Xfinity drivers this year, Junior opened up on the unhealed wounds he constantly carried with him. As reported by Ryan Pritt of news-journalonline.com, Dale Jr admitted, “That’s hard to put into words, how much of a failure that feels like for a driver. The whole season is lost. You personally, as a driver, look back on all these moments where you should’ve done something else or changed this or done something different.” 

“So, you as a driver can carry all the weight of that disappointment because you know you could’ve done several things differently to avoid the scenario you’re in and then, you have to go forward and finish the year out, not part of the cool group. It’s like a fraternity. It’s like you didn’t get accepted into the coolest fraternity in school.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s poignant confession provides a more meaningful perspective to his gesture. At that moment, team owner Dale Jr was not talking to a rival team’s driver. But a retired racer, having been through the bitter experiences of the sport, was sharing a relatable moment with a younger driver during his excruciating wait for the race in Martinsville. 

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