‘I Got a Little Antsy’: Dale Jr Gutted by Redoing ‘Same Mistake’ of His NASCAR Career as Tire Conservation Takes Over CARS Tour

Several NASCAR veterans are versatility personified. But the most talked about among them is definitely Dale Earnhardt Jr. He led a glittering career in the Cup Series, winning 26 races. Additionally, he is a promising team owner as well as a charismatic podcast host. Now Dale Jr’s talents are blooming in Late Model races as well.

In the most recently held CARS Tour Late Model Stock race in New River, Dale Jr appeared in style. Yet a wreck on lap 79 revealed some difficulties as he finished 14th place. Recently, Dale Jr dissected those problems, which resemble his past slip-ups in NASCAR races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr repeats past mistake

Dale Jr honed several niche talents when he raced full-time in NASCAR. For example, he was a master of the draft and thrived in restrictor plate racing. Ten Cup victories came at Daytona and Talladega, including Daytona 500 wins in 2004 and 2014. Besides Cup, he won back-to-back Xfinity Series titles and 13 races in two full-time seasons.

Yet even a veteran like Dale Earnhardt Jr faced hiccups in his career, which apparently reflected in his CARS Tour race. Although his tire strategy worked out, he tackled the tire conservation race in a faulty manner. After the race at New River All-American Speedway, Dale Jr detailed the constraints that he faced. 

“The race starts and I was in the back…We sat there for a while 40 laps into the race, decided that maybe we’d try to gain about 10 more spots…I think I needed to get about ten spots in that first little stage. And then another ten spots in the next stage, and I would have been set up pretty good to try to race the last 50 laps or so as hard as I could to see if the car would last to get a top 10 or top 5 finish.”

Then Dale Earnhardt Jr narrated the incident that ruined his chances of winning. Despite his poor qualifying, he was ready to charge forward. But in the second half, he was involved in an incident with Landon Huffman on Lap 79 of the 125-lap race, after he tried to pass him three-wide. Dale Jr confessed that it felt like the only solution to get ahead of the rest of the racers.

Finally, the NASCAR Hall of Famer stamped his verdict. “When you’re running these tire conservation races, you can’t give up a lot of spots, when you’re that late in the race…I got a little antsy and just tried to make too much happen. Going three-wide is never a good idea. I’ve seen it happen all the time in the Cup Series, the Xfinity Series. There I was tonight making the same mistake.”

Clearly, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s troubles in a lengthy NASCAR career spilled over into a Late Model Race. Yet Junior is looking forward to the remaining races of the season.

Dale Jr is excited about his Late Model ambitions

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Dale Earnhardt Jr’s career in Late Model races is relatively new. He got his start in Late Models at the Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina. The MBS is quite similar to the 0.400-mile NRAAS oval’s shape and track surface. 

Now he looks forward to the rest of his schedule and hopes to work on his New River mistakes. “Anyway, had a good car, and just gotta figure out how to qualify better, so I can put myself in a different situation to choose what I want to do strategy-wise. I’m having a blast and can’t wait to race again. I got a couple of races lined up this year.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s other planned CARS Tour starts include Hickory on July 27 and Florence on Southern 500 weekend in August.