Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives an inside tour of his "afraid" situation at Bristol amid "f***ing" radio issues

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has detailed his challenging situation at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The legendary NASCAR driver returned to the 'World's Fastest Half Mile' to register his maiden Xfinity Series run this season but radio issues plagued nearly 120 laps of his race.

Junior retired from full-time Cup Series racing after running the 2017 season for Hendrick Motorsports. However, since then, he competed in at least one race at the Xfinity level for his co-owned team JR Motorsports. The Food City 300 marked the two-time Xfinity champion's 147th battle where he fought the odds to become the best JRM finisher.

Shortly after kicking off the 300-lapper run, Earnhardt Jr. faced radio communication issues and pitted on Lap 4 to address the situation. However, not only did the pitstop prove ineffective for the #88 Chevy driver but he was also slapped with a pitlane speeding penalty.

During the Dirty Mo Media podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave an inside tour of what precisely happened during the radio chaos, where his "New helmet (given on Lap 57) didn't f***ing work."

"The radio that they gave me, they fastened it somewhere beside the seat. My elbow kicked that down into the floorboard of the car. It turned the volume knob, so TJ (Majors) was not max volume, but he was much higher. I was like, 'TJ, don't say anything loud.' I was afraid to grab the cord and start pulling it to get the radio back, it might unplug," Earnhardt Jr. said explaining the initial radio issue.

"So, I'm like, 'What do I do? Do I fish for this son of a b***h or not?' Finally, the caution comes out and I'm pulling this cord up and kind of like fishing without a pole and finally here comes the radio. I got the radio and they're talking to me, 'What do you need? How's your car?' I'm like, 'Ehhh f***'", he added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued:

"I'm like, 'How you turn it (radio volume) down?' I'm working for a minute and I'm like, 'Where can I put this damn thing?' I tried to mess with the clip, the clip fell off the back of it, there's no pocket or anywhere to put this. I can't put it in my lap. Finally, I stuck it in the water bottle, there's a water bottle holder in the middle of the car. The water bottle just come out, I just took the water bottle and it fell out of my hand, it ended up in the floorboard somewhere."

Despite the myriad of problems, the 49-year-old posted a seventh-place finish at Bristol, while his teammates Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Justin Allgaier finished P9, P15, and P30, respectively.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not planning to run in the Xfinity Series next year

Even though Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired from Cup Series racing, he didn't give up entirely on the sport and returned to NXS every year, a practice since 2001. From 147 starts, NASCAR's 15-time most popular driver has amassed 24 Xfinity wins, 71 top-5s, and 96 top-10s.

JR Motorsports' two major sponsors - Hellmann's Mayonnaise and Unilever - have supported Junior's races for several years. Moreover, as mentioned by Dale Jr., the package deal with the two sponsors ensures that Allageir's #7 Chevy boasts their logos.

However, as the sponsors don't require Dale Earnhardt Jr. to compete next year, he expressed returning to the field if it could further strengthen JRM's sponsorship prospects. Before kicking off the Food City 300, Junior teased about his NASCAR future, saying:

"I don’t have a requirement to run next year, so I may just not do it. And I will miss it terribly, regret that I didn’t race and probably in 2026 find me somewhere that I can go compete in the Xfinity Series again. But right now, I don’t have any plans," the JRM co-owner said via NASCAR.

Although Dale Earnhardt Jr. is winding down his motorsports operations, JRM could propel into the Cup Series amid rising interest from private equity companies.