For Dale Earnhardt Jr, making peace with his toughest memory at Daytona has allowed him to embrace what makes the track special. He experienced another great memory at Daytona International Speedway Thursday night, when JR Motorsports, which he co-owns with his sister Kelly Earnhardt Miller, qualified for The Great American Race with one of the team’s Xfinity drivers, Justin Allgaier.
“I knew it wasn’t the track that took him. I knew that wherever he was, he still felt the same about @DAYTONA” – @DaleJr
Despite the incredible loss he suffered here, Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves this track. He loves the #Daytona500. @JRMotorsports racing here Sunday is special pic.twitter.com/mzzGPXYIFf
— Daren Stoltzfus WESH (@DarenStoltzfus) February 14, 2025
“Where else do you go and barely make the field and cry tears of joy? Nowhere,” Earnhardt Jr said during a press conference Thursday night. “This is incredible and that’s what helps you measure the importance of the race and how big it is to me.” Though he won at Daytona four times during his career, including two 500s, it’s remarkable that the 50-year-old retired driver maintains fond memories of a track where he also experienced tragedy. It’s been 24 years since his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., died on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Yet, despite this tragedy, Earnhardt Jr. continues to love the track for the same reasons his father did.
“When he passed away, I had to make a decision,” Earnhardt Jr. told reporters. “I had a career in front of me, I was coming back multiple times and I had to figure out a way to be okay with it. I knew it wasn’t the track that took him. And I knew that wherever he is, he still felt the same about Daytona. So, I embraced it. His loss actually brought this property closer to me.” Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged that while this might not resonate the same way for everyone dealing with tragedy, he found peace and embraced the track, cherishing its history and significance as the cornerstone of the sport.
Earnhardt Jr. witnessed the crash up close; the last car his father saw before his death was his son’s on the final turn of the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Larry McReynolds, the crew chief behind Earnhardt Sr’s 1998 Daytona 500 win and a longtime NASCAR analyst for Fox, discussed the emotions surrounding that moment on The Awful Announcing Podcast, as he reflected on the tragic broadcast in 2001.
It remains a chilling event for many, and as Earnhardt Jr. opened up about his relationship with the track, it was evident that he had chosen to find peace with Daytona.
