Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted to ‘quit’ racing in Bud colors, reveals the ‘fella' who changed his mind after qualifying at Florence

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the iconic #8 red and black Budweiser paint scheme returned to the race track on Saturday’s late model race at Florence Motor Speedway. After the race, Dale Jr. revealed that he considered stepping away from racing after qualifying, but a fellow driver who qualified with him ignited his passion to race with some kind words.

However, Dale Jr.’s return to late model racing hasn't worked out as planned. After a poor qualifying effort, he received a provisional starting position but drove his #8 Budweiser through the field to second behind eventual winner Treyten Lapcevich before the halfway break. The 50-year-old North Carolina held second position until fuel pump issues sidelined him and ended his hopes of taking the checkered flag.

Speaking to Sportsnaut’s Matt Weaver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said:

“I'm pretty happy with it, honestly I was ready to quit doing this shit after qualifying because I just was like you know, if I can't do any better now, I don't need to be out here messing around and wasting everybody's time, but after the way we ran in the race, I'm excited to do it again.”

Speaking about the fellow driver who changed his mind about not going on with the race in Budweiser colors at Florence, Dale Jr. said:

“I wish I could remember the guy’s name drove that 19 car tonight when he got in the race. I think it was him anyway, the local guy that runs here. It was this fella. I'm sitting there. I made that qualifying run. I was mad as hell... He come up to me, and he's like, Hey man, I want to tell you something, man. You need to keep your head up.”

“I was like, all right, he's like, I'm doing this because of you, and he's like, listening. I lost my dad, and listening to your podcast really helped me, and he's like, Don't worry about that qualifying lap; he's like, You know the things you're doing are good, and you're helping people, and you're helping me.”

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished outside top 20 in the South Carolina 400 on his return

A large crowd gathered to watch the NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., but his outing didn’t go as expected by some of the fans. However, he put on an impressive show in his iconic red-and-black #8 Budweiser scheme before ending up finishing P28 at Florence late model race due to mechanical issues.

Starting from the back of the field, Dale Earnhardt Jr. charged from almost 40th place and challenged Treyten Lapcevich in the second half of the race before heading to pit road with a fuel pump issue from P2 place.

He has won 19 races in Bud colors in the NASCAR Cup Series and is likely to race again in the #8 car in 2025.