"He's sort of reinvented himself": When Dale Earnhardt Jr. praised nephew Jeffrey Earnhardt’s hard-earned NASCAR resurgence

Dale Earnhardt Jr. once praised his nephew Jeffrey Earnhardt for his hard work racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He was racing a shared schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing and XCI Racing at the time.

Jeffrey participated in various series during his racing career, spanning all three top classes in NASCAR and also the 24 Hours of Daytona. In 2019, as mentioned, he was racing with Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series. In the season-opening race at the Daytona International Speedway, he finished in 15th place. This was a major improvement compared to his previous results in the series.

Reflecting on his performance, Dale Earnhardt Jr. mentioned that he had significantly improved.

"Jeffrey’s worked really hard to get where he is today," Dale Jr. said (via NASCAR). "He’s sort of reinvented himself and really applied himself. So it’s built into what you see today. And he’s done that on his own. It’s who he is and authentic and I’m glad he’s in a good race car to go out there and run well."

"It will be exciting to see him at the other race tracks throughout the year," he added.

Earnhardt continues to participate in many series in a part-time role. In 2022, he had a career-high finish, marking a monumental P2 at Talladega.

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When Jeffrey Earnhardt finished as runner-up at Talladega

Although there were not many results in Jeffrey Earnhardt's career that stood him apart from the field, there were moments when he was close to winning. One such moment occurred when he raced in the Xfinity Series with Richard Childress Racing at Talladega.

He managed to pull his #3 Chevy to P2, one of the best results he had ever achieved in his career. In an interview after the race, Earnhardt mentioned that he was "living the dream" with RCR and thanked the team for the opportunity.

“I'm living a dream here and I'm so thankful to get this opportunity, so thankful for everyone for allowing me to come do this. You know, all the fans, RCR for building this amazing race car, we were fast all weekend long and we just fell a little short there," Jeffrey Earnhardt said (0:21 onwards).

He was the only Richard Childress Racing driver who made it to the top 10 in the race. The other two cars had finished well out of the top 20. Most recently, he participated in the Xfinity Series in 2024 on a part-time basis with Sam Hunt Racing.