Fans flock to see family favorite
Retiring Earnhardt Jr. draws loyal followers
LOUDON, N.H. — NASCAR fan Ian Gillis of Sandwich made the trek to New Hampshire Motor Speedway to catch the farewell tour of legendary driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt will compete in his second-to-last race on the Magic Mile when he climbs inside the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet for this afternoon’s Overton’s 301. He will make his 35th and final appearance at NHMS in the ISM Connect 300 on Sept. 24.
Earnhardt announced in April he would retire at the end of the 2017 campaign after 19 seasons on the senior circuit. He cited health concerns for retiring but wanted to compete another season for Hendricks Motorsports.
“I think he’s doing the right thing and like he said he wanted to do it on his own terms,” said Gillis while relaxing outside his trailer in the south parking lot.
“But it is not like he’s leaving racing altogether. He’s still going to be around. I was a fan of his father ( Dale Sr.), so it is a generational thing.”
Earnhardt Jr. was voted NASCAR’s most popular driver 14 times. He has 26 wins in 600 starts that included wins at Daytona in 2004 and 2014. Dale Sr. was equally popular before he was killed in 2001 at Daytona.
“I think it is because of his father and it was a generational thing,” said Jed Stephens. “His father left us too soon and people needed somewhere to gravitate to so they went with his son.”
Busch master
Kyle Busch led 77 laps including the final 28 to take the checkered flag in the rain-delayed Xfinity Series Overton’s 200. The victory was Busch’s record 89th in the Xfinity Series, 175th overall national series win and 11th on the Magic Mile.
Busch, who has 38 wins in the Monster Energy Series and 48 in the Camping World Track Series, began the race from the pole position and outlasted Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ryan Preece and William Byron. Preece was making his Xfinity debut for JGR.
Elliott Sadler finished seventh and remains the Xfinity points leader with 620.
“Overall it was a great day and I want to thank the fans for coming out at New Hampshire,” said Busch. “I just want to say good job to my teammate Ryan Preece and he was pretty impressive in the show.”
Santos emerges
Bobby Santos of Franklin took his first lead on the final restart with two laps remaining to take the checkered flag in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Eastern Propane & Oil 100.
Santos secured his first victory of the season and second on the Magic Mile in a race marred by spectacular accidents and five cautions. Santos made a decisive inside move on Preece on the first turn off the restart and was never challenged.
“Ryan Preece was doing a great job and I had great battle with him,” said Santos. “I knew if I could get out front and get to the bottom I found something down there and he couldn’t get by outside of me.” Whelen points leader Tommy
Solomito was the main casualty of an eight-car pileup on Turn 4 of the 20th lap. Patrick Emerling and Ron Silk were also involved and did not finish. Doug Coby bumped Ryan Newman into the wall on Turn 4 with two laps remaining to force the final restart.
Time served
Kyle Larson, operator of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished with the fourth-fastest practice time (130.514) despite being limited to just one 30-minute, 24-lap turn on the track.
Larson drew the delayed penalty for failing a pre-race inspection in last Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Larson’s winning pole run on Friday night was disallowed because of an unapproved rear deck fin lid. He will begin the Overton’s 301 in the 39th position.