Around seven years ago, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, co-owner of JR Motorsports, shared how emotional her brother Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement would be for her. As Dale Jr. prepared to step away from full-time racing at the end of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season, NASCAR paid tribute to the Earnhardt family at Darlington Raceway. The event honored Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s racing legacy, including his 12 career victories at the historic 1.366-mile track.
“I mean, I’m going to cry a lot. I may as well pack mostly tissues in my suitcase. I just know I’m going to cry because at most events when there’s anything that’s historical or involves my family or something coming to an end or changing, that’s just what I do. I don’t know how it’s going to be. It’s certainly going to be probably surreal in the moment,” Kelley Earnhardt said (via NASCAR.com).
“Going to look back on it and realize maybe that you didn’t take in some moments, so I’m probably going to have to be pretty mindful of that as I go through the weekend. But it’s going to be sad,” she added.
During the September race weekend, Kelley Earnhardt visited Darlington and spoke about her brother’s final race. The track president, Kerry Tharp, presented Dale Jr. with a commemorative print, marking the 30th anniversary of his father’s 1987 Bojangles’ Southern 500 victory. Additionally, Darlington renamed its Turn 3 suites as “Earnhardt Towers” and launched an initiative to donate 88 race tickets annually to young fans in his honor.
Kelley Earnhardt on the Final Race Weekend: “Going to be Very Busy”
In 2017, as JR Motorsports’ vice president, Kelley Earnhardt described how packed her schedule was while managing multiple responsibilities during Dale Jr.’s farewell race weekend. His final NASCAR Cup Series appearance came at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he finished 25th in his 631st career race. Piloting the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, he sported a red-and-black paint scheme in tribute to his iconic career.
“It’s going to be very busy because my team on the brand side for Dale are going to have our hands full for the weekend coordinating and entertaining sponsors, and so it’s probably going to be one of those things in the moment that you just work through because you’ve got a lot of things to handle and do,” Kelley said (via NASCAR.com).
Over 19 seasons, Dale Earnhardt Jr. amassed 26 Cup Series victories, including two Daytona 500 wins. He also dominated fan voting, earning the ‘Most Popular Driver’ award for 15 consecutive years from 2003 to 2017. Following his retirement, Dale Jr. transitioned into broadcasting, joining NBC Sports’ NASCAR team as a color commentator in 2018.
Be the first to comment