'It's going to be sad' — When Kelley Earnhardt shared emotions ahead of Dale Jr.'s NASCAR farewell

About seven years ago, NASCAR Xfinity team owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller opened up about how emotional her brother Dale Jr.'s farewell would be for her.

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. was set to retire at the end of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season, NASCAR honored the Earnhardt family at Darlington Raceway. The event celebrated Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s win anniversary and his 12 victories (Nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins and three NASCAR Xfinity Series race wins) at the 1.366-mile track.

Kelley Earnhardt, who co-owns JR Motorsports with Dale Jr., visited the raceway and spoke about his last race in September of that year.

"I mean, I’m going to cry a lot. I may as well pack mostly tissues in my suitcase. I just know I’m going to cry because at most events when there’s anything that’s historical or involves my family or something coming to an end or changing, that’s just what I do. I don’t know how it’s going to be. It’s certainly going to be probably surreal in the moment," Kelley Earnhardt said (via NASCAR.com).

"Going to look back on it and realize maybe that you didn’t take in some moments, so I’m probably going to have to be pretty mindful of that as I go through the weekend. But it’s going to be sad," she added.

Darlington Raceway's track president Kerry Tharp gave Dale Jr. a commemorative print during his last race that year which marked 30 years since his father's 1987 Bojangles' Southern 500 win.

Darlington also renamed its Turn 3 suites as "Earnhardt Towers" and announced a program to donate 88 race tickets each year to young fans.

"Going to be very busy" - When Kelley Earnhardt talked about Dale Jr.'s final race weekend

Kelley Earnhardt, who was JRM's vice president in 2017, also talked about how busy her weekend would be as she managed various responsibilities.

"It’s going to be very busy because my team on the brand side for Dale are going to have our hands full for the weekend coordinating and entertaining sponsors, and so it’s probably going to be one of those things in the moment that you just work through because you’ve got a lot of things to handle and do," Kelley said (via NASCAR.com).

Dale Jr. finished 25th in his 631st and final Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. The Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 car used a red and black paint scheme before Dale Jr. retired from full-time racing in the series that season.

The two-time Daytona 500 winner collected 26 Cup Series races over 19 years. He was also named the Most Popular Driver award 15 consecutive times from 2003 to 2017. Dale Jr. joined NBC Sports' NASCAR team as a color commentator in 2018.