The off-season has been nothing but full of surprises when it comes to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Whether it’s the collaboration with Sun Drop for an iconic plush or his grand plans for the CARS Tour series, the Pied Piper of Daytona has been working hard to ensure the next season starts off with a bang. But what about taking part in some virtual racing for a good cause?
An event of such calibre is exactly what Earnhardt Jr needed to kill some time in the off season. The iRacing executive director participated in the Mooncar 24, which is a 24 hour race held on the platform around Martinsville Speedway. But the main goal of the event ran deeper than just winning.
Dale Earnhardt Jr pulls a long virtual stint for a noble cause
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The Mooncar 24 featured some prominent names going head to head against each other alongside members from the NASCAR community. With over 58 teams in totality participating, the race was full of chaos and was covered on Twitch with live commentary. The event focused on raising money for the Toys for Tots charity. Since 2020, the organizers have raised over close to $14,000 before its latest addition. After the 2023 round with Dale Earnhardt Jr promoting the event and garnering $9,115, their tally has crossed the $20,000 mark in just four years!
Dale Earnhardt Jr updated his fans on the action halfway into the 24-Hour race on Twitter, sharing: “We are just past halfway in the Mooncar 24! It’s a 24-hour event on iRacing and I ran several hours for our team late last night. A total blast and lots of bent virtual sheet metal. This is an event for charity supporting Toys for Tots.”
While Junior was thrilled to partake in an event for a good cause once again, his entrance was made possible due to a last-minute mix-up in Landon Huffman’s team. Late-model champion Brenden Queen and fellow CARS Tour driver Dylon Wilson were called out by Huffman for their scheduling mishap. Fortunately for Huffman, he found a last-minute replacement in the Pied Piper of Daytona.
The race ran for an astounding number of 3,419 laps and witnessed over 1,200 incident points in what can only be described as pure chaos. Earnhardt Jr ran for his team during a late-night stint which gave the NASCAR community the honour to race against one of the sport’s greatest drivers.
The NASCAR Community goes wild trying to battle it out with Earnhardt Jr in iRacing
The 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola driver, Wyatt Tinsley sealed the top step alongside his fellow racers Daniel Faulkingham, Dylan Ault, and Bridger Olson. But the most fun was experienced by the buzzing community as they couldn’t comprehend their on-track battles with Dale Earnhardt Jr!
Whilst some commended the brawls between Earnhardt and the pack in the opening hours, others were dumbfounded by who they were sharing the track with, albeit virtual. A fan shared under the Twitter post, “I swear every time I got near you my car ended up getting destroyed. I’m not saying you’re bad luck, but the evidence doesn’t lie. Thanks for running with us though! I would say it was a blast, but it definitely was an event.“
On the other hand, a user who had an unfortunate run-in with Junior in the opening stages apologized to the Pied Piper of Daytona, “Hey Dale, I was the one car that accidentally hooked you early in the race when your team was 2nd. Didn’t mean it at all, please don’t hate me 🤣“
Reflecting on a move similar to
Denny Hamlin’s one on Chase Elliott in Martinsville, a fellow racer shared his gratitude, “
Thanks for the dump pass, I’m honored!” And the story wasn’t much different for the FireLightGG esports team, with a member commenting, “
My @FirelightGG guys have enjoyed the hell out of you being a part of this. Thank you for letting us race against a hero of ours”ADVERTISEMENT
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It’s safe to say that the winter season has been extremely eventful for Earnhardt Jr, and we can’t wait to see what the Pied Piper of Daytona gets up to next!