Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief explains midrace issues at Bristol

Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with his maiden race at the 'World's Fastest Mile' track in Tennessee. However, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion faced multiple setbacks during the race. His chief crew Andrew Overstreet has weighed in on the issues that Earnhardt Jr. faced in the 300-lap race on Friday, September 20.

The #88 Chevy Camaro driver started strong in the practice laps. His chief said they made normal changes in the car before the race and thought they were having a good day. But little did they know that challenges were looming ahead.

Since the start, Dale Earnhardt Jr. faced issues with his radio. During the fourth lap, the #88 driver entered the pit lane to fix it but faced a penalty for speeding. The issue wasn't solved and the 49-year-old entered the pits again in the 57th lap to fix the radio and again in the 64th lap to fix his wire harness.

During the last helmet change, Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost his glasses, and in the 156th lap, he got them back. During a post-race interview, his crew chief Andrew Overstreet mentioned that the radio port in Earnhardt Jr.'s helmet caused the issues. He said (via Dirty Mo Media on X):

"Seemed like the radio port was messed up, so had to come down, try changing radios, changed helmets, never lost a lap, and played the strategy where we could flip stages and get him track position. He needed really strong on the long run, and here that last run, we just burn ourselves up just trying to race the 20 car. But Dale had a lot of fun and said the car was really strong." [00:16]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to his top-10 finish at Bristol

Dale Earnhardt Jr. bagged a seventh-place finish at the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He started in 13th place with a best time of 16.075 seconds and a top speed of 119.365 mph. The #88 Chevy Camaro driver was 0.265 seconds behind the leader, Chandler Smith, who had a best time of 15.87 seconds and a speed of 121.366 mph.

In a post-race interview, Junior mentioned that young drivers in the game are gradually getting more competitive and that he cannot match them. Dale Earnhardt Jr. told CW (via NASCAR on TSN's X handle):

"I'm thrilled (to) come back here and be competitive. Man, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to be competitive. I can come out here for another 20 years, but eventually, these young kids get to be so good. So it's fun to be able to run with them tonight." [00:48]

The P7 finish at Bristol was Junior's 96th top-10 finish in his 147 Xfinity Series races. The two-time Cup Series Champion will not be racing in the 2025 Xfinity Series and instead focus on his broadcasting duties.

The NASCAR legend's (Dale Earnhardt) son retired from full-time Cup Series racing in 2017, having completed 631 races in his 17-year-old career.