Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit the tracks at Talladega Superspeedway to show the ropes to Youtube star and motorsports enthusiast Garett Mitchell, commonly known by his pseudonym Cleetus McFarland. The NASCAR Hall of Famer offered some useful tips to McFarland in preparation for his upcoming ARCA Menards race at the track, the General Tire 200, scheduled for April 26, 2025.
Earnhardt Jr. partnered with McFarland for his latest Youtube video, giving the 29-year-old a rundown of the 'big oval'. He talked in depth about the track's key features and qualifying strategies, offering insight into mastering the unique layout. Notably, Earnhardt Jr. also collaborated with McFarland's Youtube channel to drive the 'Dale Truck' at Talladega.
An excerpt from the Youtube video was uploaded to Dirty Mo media's X handle, revealing Earnhardt Jr.'s tips to lap faster at NASCAR's longest oval.
"You can get a little tighter to the apron than you think, but the tighter you run to the apron, the shorter the distance of the lap. If you run up here, you're just adding feet to the lap. You don't want to add feet so stay close to the apron and not hit the apron with the splitter, it's gonna slow you down," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has an impressive record of six Cup Series wins at Talladega. The stat ties him with Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski for second most wins at the 2.66 mile Aspalt. Notably, Earnhardt Jr. secured four consecutive Talladega wins from October 2001 to April 2003, earning him the nickname "The Pied Piper" of Superspeedways.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks back on racing at Rockingham
26-time Cup Series race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., recently gave a candid account of NASCAR returning to Rockingham Speedway. He reflected on his early racing days, sharing his initial dislike for worn out tracks like Rockingham, before changing his opinion over the years.
The Xfinity Series returned to Rockingham after 21 years on April 19, 2025. Speaking ahead of the event in his podcast, Dale Jr. Download, the 50-year-old said,
"When I was young and started racing in the NXS and Cup, I hated Darlington, Rockingham, all the worn-out places, and I ran great at the high-grip repaves," Dale Jr said. "We went to Pocono after they had repaved it and man, we were hooked up. Michigan, they paved it…hooked up. But now, I like the old worn-out tracks."
During his nine outings at Rockingham, Dale Earnhardt Jr. experienced a stretch of results outside the top-10, until finally posting a fifth place finish at the track's final race in 2004. However, as the co-owner of JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, Saturday's race at the track gave him cause to celebrate, as his driver Sammy Smith secured the win after Jesse Love was disqualified due to a rule breach.