Even littler ‘E’ gets a shot on big stage
There will be dueling Earnhardts at Richmond.
Jeffrey Earnhardt is scheduled to make his Sprint Cup Series debut Sept. 12 in the last race of the regular season. Driving under the Go Green Racing banner, Earnhardt will run alongside his uncle, Dale Earnhardt Jr. This will be the first time two Earnhardts will be competing in a Cup Series event in more than a decade.
“I’m really excited to get this opportunity and thrilled that corvetteparts.net is sponsoring my debut in Sprint Cup,” Jeffrey Earnhardt said. “I appreciate everyone at Go Green Racing for making this happen and look forward to doing my best to make it a good debut.’’
The younger Earnhardt, 26, has three previous starts in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series with longtime GGR sponsor corvetteparts.net.
This event will celebrate the fourth generation of Earnhardts competing in NASCAR. Ralph Earnhardt, who died in 1973, won the NASCAR Sportsman Championship in 1956 and finished in the top 10 of the NASCAR National Sportsman point standings six times. His son, the late Dale Earnhardt, was a seven-time Cup champion and the winner of the 1998 Daytona 500. Dale Jr. is a two-time Busch Series champion and a two-time winner of the Daytona 500. Date at Darlington: NASCAR returns to NBC for its Labor Day weekend “Throwback” coverage from Darlington Raceway, an iconic place to be if you are a NASCAR fan.
“There are places that you go in sports, and whether it be Augusta or Churchill Downs or the old Boston Garden, whatever it may be, there’s places that evoke the history and the ghosts of the guys who came before you, and Darlington is that place,” said Kyle Petty, an NBC analyst. “It’s still the same old racetrack my granddad drove around 50, 60 years ago.”
NBC has aired races on NBCSN since it carried its Coke Zero 400 midsummer opener at Daytona, and the network has seen a sluggish decline in ratings since that race. “The Lady in Black” should be able to help turn things around. Bud time runs out: The iconic Budweiser brand won’t continue to roll in NASCAR next season, but loyal fans can save a spot in the fridge for another cold one. Budweiser is out, but Busch is in next season as Kevin Harvick’s primary sponsor in 20 of 38 Cup races next season (including two all-star events).
“NASCAR continues to be a priority platform for our beer portfolio,” Lucas Herscovici, the vice president of consumer connections at Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement. “We are committed to the sport of racing, the fans and the Stewart-Haas Racing team we support — specifically the No. 4 car of Harvick.
“The Busch brand is well positioned for this partnership given the brand’s storied history with the sport.”
Budweiser has been a team sponsor in NASCAR’s Cup series since the early 1980s. It has been featured on cars driven by Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schrad. er and Kasey Kahne.