A much-loved veteran of American motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr is still testing his driving prowess. The 26-time Cup Series victor hung up his firesuit back in 2018. Dale Jr devotes most of his time to speaking on his podcast or managing his race team. But now and then, the experienced racer hopes behind a steering wheel at Late Model Races.

His most recent venture was at Langley Speedway, bunking with some of his CARS Tour stars. And Dale Earnhardt Jr put up an impressive run, storming his way to the front row. Yet he had to brave a severe problem inside his car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr recalls a boiling race

Dale Earnhardt Sr was known for his Cup Series achievements, notching seven Cup championships in his prime. But before Dale Jr followed in his father’s footsteps, he did a whole lot of Late Model racing. So recently he went back to his racing roots, attempting the annual Hampton Heat race at Virginia’s Langley Speedway. And well, was it jaw-dropping! Dale Earnhardt Jr made his way from the rear of the field and broke into the top five during the last 25 laps.

After clinching a fifth-place finish on his very first showing at Langley, Dale Earnhardt Jr seemed pleased. He recalled everything that went right post-race: “We built a brand new car, fast off the trailer…Worked on it a little bit, probably didn’t make much difference. Tried not to screw it up…sat there, tried to take care of the tires. So we had something at the end. I love racing on old worn-out racetracks like this. The long 200-lappers – that’s right in my wheelhouse.” 

But then everything that went wrong stuck in his mind. Dale Earnhardt Jr painfully remembered the steamy temperatures that made the Langley race a hot mess. “It is hot. It ain’t lying about the heat – it is warm and it was humid tonight. 30 to go, I was cooking in there.” Dale Jr added a solution for this, which did little to help. “You do what you can. Coat rags really help, kind of cool your body temperature down, and get your head cooled down. That’s really the main thing – your head’s just so hot inside the helmet.

Even the car setup is not so well adjusted for the sweltering heat. “And in these cars, we don’t really run any kind of high-tech cool suits or helmet blowers. It’s just a little shell fan that ain’t really doing much.” So Dale Earnhardt Jr declared that the NASCAR experience would be way more tolerable than the Langley heat. “So yeah, these cars are much more uncomfortable than a Truck, an Xfinity car or a Cup car. I’ll go to Bristol and run that race later this year and never be this uncomfortable. So it’s tough on the drivers, but it’s still fun enough to do it. Even though you know you’re gonna be in there cooking.”

Despite the prickly heat, Dale Earnhardt Jr managed to wow all the fans gathered to watch him that day. And the Langley race was booming majorly due to his presence.

Dale Jr drew the crowds

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“Godspeed Les” – NASCAR Loses Old School Pioneer Integral to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Late Modal Venture

Holding a glittering NASCAR resume gets you a lot of fame, especially if you are Dale Earnhardt Jr. Besides achieving success on the racetrack, Dale Jr is a people’s champion – he is a 15-time Most Popular Driver and commands many loyal followers via his podcast. So when Virginia people heard this icon was going to race at Langley, they set down to action. Jennifer Johnson shifted her daughter’s baby shower just to accommodate her Langley plans. Then a Dale Sr look-alike, Mike Lowrie, dressed up like The Intimidator as he had been doing since 1984.

Grace and Trevor Reynolds drive their trailer full of merchandise wherever Dale Jr goes to race Late Models. They parked in front of the spectator entrance to Langley Speedway and said nearing 4 p.m. that the lines of fans had been non-stop since he opened at noon. Trevor praised Dale Jr’s immense popularity: “Junior is a household name that is never going away. People came up through the circuit watching his dad, the late, great Dale Earnhardt, and they like Junior because he’s a laid-back, regular guy loved by kids and (adult) fans. He likes to have fun and let it run, but he turns wrenches on his cars like everybody else here.”

Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr is a major racing icon even at Late Model races. Coupled with his top-five finish, he boosted his fame more despite the nagging heat.