Dale Jr is back on the racetrack! This sentence alone is enough to get NASCAR fans excited. Dale Jr will be taking on the Florence Motor Speedway to race in the South Carolina 400, marking his first appearance at the track since he was 17. Despite the time away, Earnhardt was competitive, posting the tenth-fastest speed out of 53 cars in practice.

Junior’s teammate for the race was Carson Kvapil, who got the best of him during the practice sessions. But this did not last for too long, as the qualifiers are where Earnhardt shone. After the qualifiers, the JR Motorsports owner came forward to talk about the issues he is facing on the track that have left him behind his younger counterpart.

Dale Jr on the South Carolina 400 qualifiers

At the circuit, Matt Weaver met up with Dale Jr to discuss how it feels for him to get back behind the wheel. Dale Jr is obviously quite excited and he is ready to give the race his all. When Weaver approached Dale, he spoke about his return and asked him about how he felt heading into the South Carolina 400.

In response to this, Dale Jr explained, “Well, you know, again, I’ve said it before, and it’s just so tough qualifying in this car.” The team is yet to figure out the best setup and strategy as Dale is struggling to extract every inch of performance from the car.

So when Dale said, “I need to learn to drive the car the way it needs to be driven. I know we should have qualified around 5th to 10th, but I just can’t find the speed in it, and I drive it the wrong way.” We get a picture of his struggles. He did not qualify quite well, and that is okay, as the race still remains.

Speaking of the worst-case scenario for the race, Dale mentioned, “I think if you are going to be one of the guys qualifying in the top 5, yes, you can fade back a little bit, but you are not fading back to 25th; you are fading back to 10th or 15th. And then you decide to move forward.” This is a luxury that Dale said he and his team do not have.

How was Dale Earnhardt Junior’s experience at the South Carolina 400?

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The former NASCAR driver broke down his situation when he said, “If we don’t qualify well, I got to pick that up.” The South Carolina 400 is a challenging race where drivers need to do everything they can to conserve their tires and manage their pace over a long 200-lap race. The race is not in a format that Dale Jr is used to with its 3 stage setups and this made things a little more challenging for him.

Although Dale Jr has a lot of experience on the circuit, as he spent most of his teenage years at Florence and Myrtle Beach, the years of Haitus from the circuit have played their part, making it difficult for the icon. Returning to his youth playground, Dale Jr explained, “Overall, this track is just fun. It’s slick, worn out, and perfect. I’ve wanted to come back here for a long time.”

Dale Jr will forever remain an icon in the motorsport world and seeing him race at Florence after decades will be something that fans talk about for years to come. Do you think Dale Jr will be able to bag a win on this circuit soon? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.