“I Saw Him Mouth It and I Went, Sh*t”- Dale Earnhardt Jr Reveals Accidentally Ditching Former Driver’s Only Victory Lane Visit

JR Motorsports has been a launchpad for many drivers. The Dale Earnhardt Jr. initiative has been a popular name on the circuit and continues to do so in the Xfinity Series. Among a horde of drivers that drove for JRM, very few have been able to produce a moment as iconic as Jamie McMurray’s win at Atlanta in 2010. Coming in as a substitute driver in the #88 Chevy for the NASCAR Nationwide Series turned out perfectly for the Sprint Cup expert.

Reminiscing about that legendary day on the racetrack, McMurray joined Junior on the Dale Jr Download. In hindsight, the move might seem like a well-executed move from the JRM management, but McMurray was no slouch either. At the time of the announcement, Jamie was the defending Daytona 500 champion with seven wins in the Nationwide Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr couldn’t join Jamie McMurray in the victory lane celebrations

McMurray arrived on the team as a stopgap solution for the departure of Kelly Bires from the #88 team. With Junior’s uncle, Tony Eury Sr, who was Earnhardt Sr’s, at the group’s helm, they had finished third in two consecutive seasons before 2010. Kelley Earnhardt convinced the team’s management to recruit Jamie.

During that period, 25-year-old Kyle Busch was at the peak of his powers and was aiming to become the first driver in the competition’s 28-year history to have won 11 races in a season. Despite Busch showing dominance to lead the most laps, he lost out to Jamie McMurray by just less than a second.

Recollecting memories from a glorious day of racing, Dale Earnhardt Jr said, “There’s a banner on this building with your name on it. You raced an Xfinity Series for us, and I don’t remember exactly what scenario we had. We were between drivers or whatever, and we needed some help.“

“Elliott ran a race for us and there was like, a little, we had a lot of fun. We got to get our buddies and go racing. But a funny story about that, not so funny, but Jamie wins the race. I’m at the house, or I’m somewhere watching it on TV. I left, “ disclosed Junior, revealing that he did not expect McMurray to win and, as a reason, was not present at the trackside. Jamie surely would have liked Junior to visit him, considering this was his only win for JRM.

However, the 47-year-old didn’t take much offense in Junior’s absence and instead had to face a fit of anger from crew chief Eury Sr. Recollecting more details about the incident, he then said, “I feel like you called or something after that. ‘Man, I’m sorry,’ and I was like, ‘Well, I’m not.’ I wasn’t like in victory lane going where the hell is Dale?”

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You might feel McMurray had already given up on Junior turning up to the victory lane celebrations and instead decided to invest in the happiness from his win. But that was not the case, as the two-time Xfinity Series winner unearthed another side to the story.

Tony Eury Sr didn’t believe in McMurray’s request to change the car

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Responding to the Sprint Cup racer’s statement, Junior then claimed there was one more aspect that he was unaware of. He replied, “That’s not true,” to which McMurray inquired again, “Oh, I did say that?”

“Yes! I’m looking at the TV, I’m like, ‘Hell yeah!'” answered Junior. “I don’t know why I left. I don’t really remember, but I left for whatever reason.”

“He wins the race and I’m watching on TV like, ‘Hell yes. This is friggin’ amazing, dude, you friggin won.’ And he gets out of the car and he looks at Tony Sr and he goes, (whispers Where’s Dale) I saw him mouth it and I went, s**t.“

2010 was also the year when McMurray replaced Martin Truex Jr in the #1 car at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The ties between him and Junior date back a long time ago, which also allowed him to reunite with Ganassi for the first time since 2006.

“I don’t remember that,” claimed Jamie, reciprocating to Earnhardt Jr’s belief. “All I remember about that weekend was, in practice, we pulled out and that old Atlanta so slick, and I told Pops. I was like, I need a big change, like 5% of wedge. I just remember he looked at me like you’re an idiot. I went out, and I was pretty fast, and I remember I was like, we need that much again. I remember he was like, ‘ain’t no way.“

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Looking at one more story of success and bonding from the rich treasure of stories by Dale Earnhardt Jr is fascinating. Throughout his years in NASCAR, he has experienced so many exceptional moments around so many important people.