Race 24 of 33: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway
Track Specs: 1.366-mile oval / 147 laps
Weather: Partly Cloudy; 89 degrees
Race Winner: Cole Custer
Earnhardt Jr.'s Finish: 4th
Racing with a throwback No. 8 Hellmann’s Chevrolet that carried a special paint scheme inspired by his late father, Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the four-car JRM contingent with a fifth-place finish in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway.
Making his first NXS start in nearly a year, Earnhardt Jr. wasted little time finding his comfort zone. The Hellmann’s team’s day began with a 14th-place qualifying effort but from the drop of the green flag Earnhardt Jr. began a steady climb forward. When the race’s first caution emerged on lap 13, the No. 8 had cracked the back end of the top 10 and ran top-five lap times. Earnhardt Jr.’s initial feedback was that the car was a “little on the free side”, and he took the ensuing restart in eighth.
As the field settled into a green-flag run over the next dozen laps, the Hellmann’s entry gradually began losing overall grip. It was a handling condition the team would need to tweak on for the rest of the race, and they’d get an opportunity after Earnhardt Jr. finished Stage One in seventh and brought the car to the attention of the crew for an initial stop.
Restarting in seventh, Stage Two was uneventful for the Hellmann’s team. Earnhardt Jr. maintained a strong running position inside the top 10, commenting the car “needed more right-front grip”. He held on to seventh to end Stage Two.
After a second round of pit stops, the team fired off for the final stage in seventh. Over the final 40 laps, Earnhardt Jr. battled hard for position with several competitors, climbing to sixth as the Hellmann’s entry’s handling began tightening up. The team had the opportunity to utilize one last pit stop under caution on lap 134 to free up the No. 8, and Earnhardt Jr. put the changes to good use over the last 10 laps of green-flag racing to come home with a fifth-place finish.
Cole Custer won the race and was followed to the line by Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver No. 8 Hellmann’s Chevrolet team
“I had a lot fun today. I appreciate all these fans coming out to Darlington. They love this place. I’m proud of Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and our whole team for bringing a really good car here. We just lacked a little bit of front grip. We got it turning better but slid the nose a lot. We did alright.
“Thanks to Hellmann’s for letting allowing us do the No. 8 throwback. A shout out to the Negre family who owned this race car back in 1975, and a shout out to my Dad. It was fun one. You just never know how good you are till you come back and try it. This is elite [racing]. These guys are elite. All these guys in this field do this every single week and they are very talented.”