“We’ll take a deeper dive into that” - Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s burnt firesuit from Bristol Xfinity race to be examined by NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s fire suit from last weekend's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Bristol Motor Speedway is due for examination by the governing body. Former driver and current senior vice president of competition at NASCAR, Elton Sawyer confirmed the development as the sport gets ready to go live again this weekend.

The Food City 300 saw Dale Eanrhardt Jr. come out of retirement as a driver as he has been doing on a yearly basis to get behind the wheel of the #88 Chevrolet Camaro fielded by his own team. The JR Motorsports owner was seen challenging at the front and leading laps before a fire inside the cockpit cut his race short.

Seen with a burnt ankle on the fire suit he was wearing, Earnahrdt Jr. confirmed he had suffered no damage after he got out of the car. However, the same could not be said for the car, as well as his overalls.

NASCAR's senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer took this matter seriously and ordered Earnhardt Jr.'s race suit to be sent for inspection this week. Looking to improve on any parameters with the overalls, Sawyer elaborated to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (via RacingNews):

“I believe it was an electrical fire. Our safety folks have asked Dale to provide us with his firesuit. We’ll take a deeper dive into that just to make sure everything worked that should have. If there’s any learnings from the fiber, the FIA certification, that type of stuff.”

Swyer also provided an update on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s well-being as he got out of his car and said:

"Fortunately, he got out of the car. Just some burns on the firesuit. I don’t believe it got to his actual skin on that one."

Safety has come a long way in NASCAR, particularly since Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s father lost his life over 20 years ago in the sport.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. elaborates on the cause of the fire in his car last weekend

The North Carolina native also commented on the root cause of the fire that took place inside the cockpit of his car last Friday in a post-race press conference. He pinpointed the issue as an electrical malfunction, as reported by RacingNews, and said:

“The fire was an electrical issue, starting with the main power cord. The carbon fiber legboard was sawing at the power cable just from the g-forces at Bristol. Once it gets to the metal of the cable itself, it arcs. It set the foam on the legboard, on fire. The foam on the legboard is what was burning.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was most importantly unharmed during the whole ordeal. However, he did miss an opportunity to take a shock victory at Bristol last Friday.