Farewell tour stops at Daytona
Earnhardt takes pole in possible last race at track
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement tour is making an emotional stop at NASCAR’s most famous track.
Earnhardt won his first pole Friday since Sept. 29, 2013, and will lead the field to the green flag in what could be his final Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Earnhardt reached 190.973 mph on his fast lap, putting his No. 88 Chevrolet in the top spot Saturday for the race. The pole also earned Earnhardt an automatic spot in the exhibition Clash at Daytona in 2018, giving him an opportunity to cut his impending retirement short and get back behind the wheel at the famed trackfor Speedweeks.
“I’ll talk to my boss and see what he has in the shed,” Earnhardt quipped.
Earnhardt was the final driver to qualify and bumped Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott to second.
The front row is a reverse from the Daytona 500, when Elliott landed the pole and Earnhardt started on the outside of the front row. It was a strong day overall for Hendrick, with Kasey Kahne qualifying fourth. Wedged between the top Hendrick cars was Brad Keselowski, who qualified thirdfor Team Penske.
Kevin Harvick was fifth, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano.
All the attention, though, was on Earnhardt. No surprise for NASCAR’s favorite son, especially this weekend. Although Earnhardt hasn’t ruled out racing at Daytona in the future, especially in the second-tier Xfinity Series, his trip to NASCAR’s birthplace is being treated like a career finale.
The track developed a “Daletona” mosaic in the stadium’s Axalta Injector that allows fans to create a piece of artwork to commemorate what could be Earnhardt’s final Cup Series start at Daytona. Officials also presented Junior with a painting featuring three of his most memorable wins at the superspeedway — his July 2001 victory that came 4½ months after his father’s fatal crash in the Daytona 500; his July 2010 win in the second-tier series in which he drove a No. 3 Chevrolet with a throwback paint scheme; and his February 2014 win in “The Great AmericanRace.”
He admittedly got tearyeyed Thursday night watching a replay of his 2004 Daytona 500 victory.
Earnhardt expects the weight of walking away — he is retiring from full-time racing at the end of the season — to hit him during the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Xfinity
Rain forced NASCAR to postpone the series’ race at Daytona International Speedway. Drivers completed 11 laps before it began to rain. The race was rescheduled for noon Saturday and will air on CNBC.
Elsewhere
Longtime racing writer Norma “Dusty” Brandel won the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR media excellence. Brandel was the first woman to report from inside the NASCAR garage when she covered her first race at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1972. Brandel will be honored at the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January.