It will not be Dale Earnhardt Jr. He is the only Earnhardt at the Nashville Superspeedway this weekend.
NASCAR’s most popular 15-time driver will return as an analyst for the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 call-up (4 p.m., NBC). Before that, his nephew Jeffrey Earnhardt will be in the field on Saturday for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 (2:30 p.m., USA).
Jeffrey Earnhardt, who celebrated his 34th birthday on Wednesday, won first place in the Talladega Xfinity in April, finishing second in his #26 Sam Hunt Racing owned Sam Hunt Racing car. Toyota Supra.
He wasn’t close in his last two races as he finished 19th in Texas and 37th in Charlotte, leaving Earnhardt more determined than ever to win his first Xfinity race.
“I know Jeremy has a chip on his shoulder for the weekend,” Hunt said. “The guys have prepared a beautiful ForeverLawn Toyota GR Supra and we are looking forward to racing in the heat this weekend.”
This will be Earnhardt’s first time running a 1.33-mile concrete D-track and he’s looking to make some noise in the city as his famous grandfather Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a hit at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in the ’70s and ’80s and his Uncle Dale Jr got his start in the ’90s .
“I am really excited to be heading to Nashville,” said Jeffrey Earnhardt, father of Keri Earnhardt. “I have always loved racing on concrete tracks and am excited to go there with the Sam Hunt Racing team.”
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Earnhardt recently added the July 9 Xfinity Series race in Atlanta to his schedule. He finished 13th, his second best performance of the season, in Atlanta on March 19.
The second trip to Atlanta will be Earnhardt’s ninth race of the season.
“We’ve had the pace everywhere we’ve gone this season,” Earnhardt said. “We just need to put one together and keep the ForeverLawn GR Supra ahead all day. We’ll carry that momentum to Atlanta. I’m excited to be back to capitalize on our 13th place earlier this year.”
The Nashville Superspeedway triple drive starts Friday with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Rackley Roofing 200 (7 p.m., FS1).
Deal Jr. podcast
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will host. A live recording of his podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, Friday 8:30 p.m. at Ole Red on Broadway.
His guests will include NASCAR Hall of Fame enthusiasts, Daryl Waltrip, resident of Franklin and Tennessee Titans, and NASCAR enthusiast Bernard Pollard.
Fans are welcome to come and participate in a question-and-answer session with Earnhardt and his guests.
You can reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.