“Great news”: NASCAR royalty Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Lanie Buice’s CARS Tour announcement

NASCAR royalty Dale Earnhardt Jr. is thrilled to welcome Lanie Buice to the 2025 CARS Tour championship. Buice announced her plans to compete in the CARS Tour full-time with Lee Pulliam Performance, driving the #03 car.

Lee Pulliam Performance won the Late Model drivers and the owners' championship last year, with Brenden 'Butterbean' Queen in the #03 car. With Butterbean moving up to the ARCA Menards Series this season, 18-year-old Buice will be making her full-time debut in the series.

Buice, a native of Jackson, Georgia, took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce her full-time debut with Lee Pulliam Performance. She expressed her excitement about competing for the championship and the Rookie of the Year award in the 2025 CARS Tour season. She wrote on X:

"Surprise! I'm racing with @LeePulliam11 in the @CARSTour ! So excited to chase Rookie of the Year & a championship. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity! Catch the season opener March 1 at New River All American Speedway!"

CARS Tour co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was thrilled to welcome Lanie Buice to the series for the 2025 season. He expressed excitement about her debut, calling it great news for the series. He also mentioned looking forward to seeing her on the track. He wrote on X:

"This is great news for @zMAXFormula @CARSTour! See ya at the track Lanie."

The Jackson, Georgia native is part of the Rev Racing program and has made five starts in the CARS Tour Late Model division and twice in the Pro Late Model division. Last year, she entered the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway.

The 2025 CARS Tour Late Model and the Pro Late Model Series will begin at the New River All-American Speedway in Jacksonville, North Carolina on March 1. The 15-race schedule will conclude on October 18 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s racing schedule for 2025

NASCAR Hall of Famer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced last year about his waning interest in running Xfinity Series races and shifting focus to Late Model races. He is not expected to make any appearances in the Xfinity Series while making three to four Late Model appearances this year.

After reuniting with Budweiser #8 at Florence Motor Speedway last year, the 50-year-old will return to the track on August 29. He confirmed with the message, "I’ll see y’all in August," on his Instagram Story in December last year after the track released its calendar for 2025.

With the CARS Tour Series heading to Cordele Motor Speedway for the first time this year, Dale Jr. announced that he would be racing at the 3/8-mile oval on April 12. He wrote on X, adding the track to his short racing schedule:

"Thrilled to add @CordeleSpeedway to the short list of events I’ll be racing in 2025"

Dale Jr. will also make a return to broadcast duties this year, joining the booth at Amazon Prime and TNT.