Dale Earnhardt Jr. vows to be back after making iconic return in his Red #8 Budweiser

Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn't done getting behind the wheel of a race car. Following his return to late model stock car racing at the Florence Speedway on Saturday night, the 26-time NASCAR Cup Series winner made his intentions known and plans to keep racing next year.

When asked after the race whether he would be making more on-track appearances, Earnhardt said he was unsure if he wanted to do it again after a poor qualifying result of 40th. However, after driving to second place before suffering a broken fuel pump that ended his race, the 50-year-old said the strong run excited him about running his scheduled four late-model stock car races next year.

"You go out there and run like that, you're excited about maybe the opportunity of coming back and running again. I got four races planned for next year. One in April, a couple in August, and one in October. At least that's kinda what it looks like right now. I'm going to go run those, but I'm much more looking forward to it now." (2:45 onwards)

The North Carolina native brought back the famed Budweiser #8 car at Florence Speedway, a sponsor-number combination synonymous with the early days of his career. Earnhardt said fans can expect to see the Budweiser #8 when he returns to late-model stock car racing next year.

"If I have anything to do with it, they will. They'll see that Bud car again. I hope Budweiser really enjoyed this. I'm thankful for them to allow us to do it and have some fun. ... Seemed like it was a great reaction on social media about it leading up to the race. Some great attendance from the fans here. They had people they had to turn away I guess because they didn't have room. Lot of folks around here with their old Bud gear on. The fans really supported it well and that would encourage I think Budweiser to consider allowing us to run it more." (3:21 onwards)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said it's "humbling" to be a part of NASCAR's most popular driver trend

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a 15-time winner of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver award throughout his Cup Series career. On the heels of Chase Elliott winning his seventh straight Most Popular Driver award this year, Earnhardt took to social media to express his gratitude for a unique trend in the award.

The Most Popular Driver honor has been won by either an Elliott or an Earnhardt in the last 34 years of NASCAR, which includes Earnhardt, his late father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Elliott and his father, Bill Elliott

"Nascar fans are incredibly loyal and it's been humbling to be in the company of these 3 drivers," Earnhardt Jr. wrote.

Since retiring from Cup competition at the end of the 2017 season, Earnhardt Jr. ventured into motorsports commentary as he joined the NBC Sports broadcast team in 2018. Earnhardt Jr. spent six seasons with NBC and is set to join the TNT Sports/Amazon broadcast team in 2025.