“Michael Waltrip got more out of those cars than people realize”: Dale Jr. reminisces being 16 and ‘hanging out’ at NASCAR team garages 

Retired NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. took a trip down memory lane in a recent social media post. The 26-time Cup Series winner looked back at his younger days and hanging around now-retired two-time Daytona 500 champion, Michael Waltrip.

An X user who goes by the name Front Row Racing shared an old image of one of Waltrip's 1991 #30 Pennzoil Pontiacs. The post was part of the user counting down the days to the 2025 Daytona 500. They wrote:

"Counting the days!… #GreatAmericanRace Michael Waltrip -1991 @MW55"

The car was owned by Bahari Racing, a team Waltrip drove for from 1988-1995. The post spawned Earnhardt to reminisce as he recalled being 16 years old when he'd often stop by the team's race shop. The soon-to-be broadcaster for Amazon/TNT Sports believes people aren't aware how much drivers like Waltrip got out of the type of cars like the #30 machine. He wrote:

"When I was 16, I would stop by their shop and hang out. Knew a few of the guys on the team. They showed me one of their cars, and how it had literal inches of bondo in certain areas of the body. I always thought @MW55 and them got more out of those cars than people realize," Dale Jr. wrote.

Waltrip would later drive for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated beginning in 2001, a team owned by Earnhardt Jr.'s late father, Dale Earnhardt. Waltrip won his first career Cup Series race on his debut with the team, the 2001 Daytona 500. However, the win was marred by the tragic death of Earnhardt Sr. after he suffered fatal injuries in a crash on the race's final lap.

Waltrip won three more races in his career, including another Daytona 500 in 2003. Dale Jr., meanwhile, drove for DEI from 2000-2007 and won his first Daytona 500 in 2004 with the team. He left for Hendrick Motorsports ahead of the 2008 Cup Series season, a team he'd spend the remainder of his career with. Earnhardt Jr. won another Daytona 500 in 2014 with the organization.

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Dale Jr.'s team JR Motorsports attempting to make 2025 Daytona 500

JR Motorsports, a NASCAR Xfinity Series team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., has been a staple in the series for a number of years. Now, the organization is taking a new step, announcing its intentions to try to make this year's Daytona 500 with Justin Allgaier behind the wheel of the #40 car.

The team broke the news by sharing a video of Dale Jr. documenting its success in NASCAR and looking forward to the Cup Series race in Daytona.

"See y'all in Daytona"

Allgaier is on the heels of his first Xfinity Series championship in 2024. He began driving for Dale Jr.'s team in the Xfinity Series back in 2016.