“Never hurts to have an angel over your shoulder”: When Dale Earnhardt Jr. thanked Darrel Waltrip’s wife Stevie’s Bible verse at Talladega

Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced his last race as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver at the Alabama 500 Monster Energy Cup Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway in 2017. The race had three wrecks, and one included 16 drivers on the track but Earnhardt Jr. was barely able to steer out of each wreck.

Later, in a post-race interview, the JR Motorsports owner shared that he carried a scripture in his car that helped him steer clear from the wrecks. Stevie Waltrip, wife of former NASCAR driver Darrell Waltrip, gave Dale Jr. the scripture as a part of a tradition that dates back to his father's racing days.

After finishing seventh and not getting caught up in any accident, Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his gratitude to Stevie and said:

"She probably gave me a little luck there. Never hurts to have an angel over your shoulder." (via tuscaloosanews.com)

Stevie made handwritten Bible verses each week before the race and gave them to Darrel Waltrip, then Dale Earnhardt Sr., and later Dale Earnhardt Jr. after Dale Sr. passed away in 2001. The #88 driver mentioned that "Lamentations 3:22-24" was the good luck charm in the note that helped him this time.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s nostalgic last ride at NASCAR's longest track

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had six wins at the Talladega Speedway and was the second driver on the list with the most wins at the track. The only driver ahead of him was his father, Dale Sr., who had ten wins on the track, and the record has still not been touched by anyone. But this is not the only reason Junior felt emotional and nostalgic at the longest track.

"This is the first place I really ran any laps outside of a late model car. Dad called me at the dealership and asked me to come here. They were testing the V8 car for the XFINITY Series. … That was 1994," stated Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The owner of JR Motorsports even won his first pole position at the Talladega Speedway in his last race. However, he finished seventh, and Brad Keselowski won the race. He was allowed to customize the paint scheme of his car twice in a season, and he decided to pay tribute to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and painted his car in the #Cheers2DaleJr theme.

"I knew coming in here it was going to be tough,” Keselowski said, “because people saw me running that paint scheme, and I think they expected I was going to let Dale win," stated Keselowski.

The RFK racing team driver bagged his fifth win at Talladega Superspeedway in the race. Earnhardt Jr. led seven laps in stage 1 of the race, but two penalties sent him to the back of the pack. However, with his skills, he made his way into the top ten in the final stage, but the last wreck slowed him, and he finished in seventh place.