That’s what they do. Dale Jr. joins Food City 300
NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has announced he will once again compete in the Food City 300 (7:30 p.m., USA Network, PRN Radio) on Friday night, Sept. 20, under the lights at the highbanked all-concrete short track that races like a superspeedway.
Earnhardt Jr. will again drive the blue, yellow and white Hellmann’s No. 88 Chevy Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season finale race.
It’s the 20-year-anniversary of when the two-time Xfinity Series champ famously coined the phrase “It’s Bristol, Baby!” after winning the 2004 Night Race in the Cup Series at BMS. That year he also won the Xfinity Series race a night earlier to sweep both events in a single weekend. At the time, he was the first driver to accomplish that feat.
In last year’s Food City 300, Earnhardt Jr. brought the fans to their feet inside The Last Great Colosseum by leading and running in the top-five of the race for most of the night. A small electrical fire in his dash with 29 laps remaining in the race forced him to park his car early, and he settled for a 30th place finish.
Skip Barber and SRX
The Skip Barber Racing School has announced that it has acquired Superstar Racing Experience (SRX).
Founded in 1975, the Skip Barber Racing School is the largest racing school in the world, with over 400,000 alumni, including Sergio Perez, Josef Newgarden, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.
It currently operates racing schools and safe driving academies at nine different venues across the country.
Since the inaugural season of SRX in 2021, the Skip Barber Racing School has served as the official logistics partner for the series, responsible for the care, maintenance, and transport of all series vehicles throughout the season. Many of the regular competitors in SRX graduated from the Skip Barber Racing School including Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte, Ken Schrader, and Marco Andretti.
Don Hawk, the former CEO of SRX, joined the Skip Barber Racing School as its Chief Strategy Officer this past week.
“For years I watched the Skip Barber Racing School and its graduates, as well as those that just stopped in for a refresher course in road racing,” Hawk said. “Now, I have the opportunity to join the senior management team of Anthony DeMonte, Dan DeMonte and Joe Monitto at the Skip Barber Racing School, where we will bring SRX back to its fans and tracks while also helping them with the overall vision and business across the USA and beyond”
Ernie Saxton is an auto racing contributor for MediaNews Group. He co-founded the Eastern Motorsports Press Association, served as public relations director for Grandview Speedway for 47 years, and is in multiple halls of fame for his promotion and journalism related to the sport. He has announced races at more than 100 tracks, and he is the only person to have announced a race at Madison Square Garden. Email him at ESaxton144@aol.com.