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via Getty

via Getty

This weekend was going to be a memorable one for the sleepy town of  Florence, South Carolina. The town hosted the South Carolina 400 after the race was shifted from Myrtle Beach a few years ago. But more than that, they had a star featuring in the race – Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr’s plans to race the South Carolina 400 were released last week in a video by NASCAR Roots. He also said on his famous podcast, Dale Jr Download, “I raced at Florence every Friday night, probably 14 times a year.” This was early on in the 90s when Junior was yet to become the NASCAR legend we know today.

“I was part of that experience back in the 90s when we ran the 400 at the end of those years. I had so many amazing experiences there back in the 90s. I want this race track to survive. Hopefully, this is a great way for them to end the season,” said Dale Jr.

The driver has a very close history with the race. Before he made his way up into the erstwhile-Busch Series, he raced at the Myrtle Beach 400. The track at Myrtle Beach has since been demolished, and the race shifted to Florence.

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He said on the SiriusXM Speedway podcast, “It’s a pretty important race if you know the history of the 400 they used to run at Myrtle Beach, and when Myrtle Beach went away they brought it over to Florence. I’ve been wanting to go back to that race track and actually race.”

“I went over there probably about two years ago and tested for this exact race. I got out there and got to run a little bit and really enjoyed that. It’s a really cool track.”

Read More: “Jesus” Dale Earnhardt Jr Breaks the Internet With Video Revealing Plans For The Weekend

It was a great move from Dale Jr to do this for the guys in Florence. The crowd gets the extra motivation to step out and attend ‘smaller’ races like these if legends like him are racing.

The return of Dale Earnhardt Jr goes awry

Unfortunately for fans and Dale Jr, his return to the 400 couldn’t be as poetic as they would have wished for.

He was involved in an incident with Matt Cox. The decision to send him back however didn’t have many takers.

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The race was won by Brendan Queen and made for some interesting viewing. Dale Jr couldn’t get his hands on the win but he did the job of making people watch the race!