Earnhardt Jr: ‘I’m Not Planning On Racing Next Year’

Dale Earnhardt Jr. may make his final NASCAR Xfinity Series start Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Jacob Seelman photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Regardless of the outcome of Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, it could be the final hurrah for Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The 15-time NMPA Most Popular Driver, 24-time winner in both the Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Cup Series, and two-time Xfinity Series champion will be on-track in the Food City 300 at The Last Great Colosseum, hoping to add one more victory to his stellar career.

He tipped Friday afternoon that after the Bristol weekend, he doesn’t have anything “on the books in 2025” to get back behind the wheel of a race car in one of NASCAR’s three national series.

“Well, I’m not planning on racing next year,” Earnhardt said Friday during his pre-race media availability at Bristol. “I’ll be foolish to say I’m never going to run again because I don’t know well enough to stay away from it, and I’ll probably miss it next year and be absolutely willing to sign up because of anything that might be beneficial to JR Motorsports.

“I have to remind fans and people that follow us that I run this race and have ran this race over the last several years because of the big benefit that it is to JR Motorsports,” he continued. “It’s a package deal where Hellmann’s and Unilever have put their logos on Justin’s [Allgaier] car and it’s helped fill out that car. And I don’t have a requirement to run next year, so I may just not do it.

“I will miss it terribly, [I’m sure] regret that I didn’t race, and probably in 2026 find me somewhere that I can go compete in the Xfinity Series again. But right now, I don’t have any plans.”

Earnhardt has competed in at least one Xfinity Series race in every year dating back to 2001.

He made starts at Bristol and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway last year and earned a fifth-place finish in the Homestead race, his best series result since 2020, when he also ran fifth in Miami.

But it was the Bristol event where Earnhardt shone again, leading 47 laps and appearing to be a legitimate threat for the victory before an ignition fire with 29 to go forced him to the garage area.

Not only did Earnhardt bring the exact same chassis back to the Bristol high banks this time around, the No. 88 team won the most recent Xfinity Series race on the schedule at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International with 18-year-old prodigy Connor Zilisch – making for a potentially storybook kind of night.

“Had a great car last year. Really, really great car,” Earnhardt said. “And no surprise the 88 has been fast every time they take it to the racetrack, no matter who’s driving it this year. I feel pretty good about the car being good again. It’s the same car [that] ran last year. They took it home, tore it apart, put it back together, and nobody’s driven it since then. So I’m hoping it’ll drive as good as it did last year.

“No pressure in qualifying either,” he added. “Last year we came here, we were one of the eight or so drivers that could miss the race if something had gone wrong in qualifying. This time, we don’t have to worry about that and can just … see where we need to be on the racetrack to be ready for the race.”

Whether he does wrap up his 19-year Xfinity Series career after Friday night or not, Earnhardt noted that he has no plans to completely put away his race suit and helmet bag for good.

The zMAX CARS Tour co-owner has made several starts this year with JR Motorsports’ longtime late model program and plans to continue down that road for the immediate future.

“I found what I love, to be honest with you, driving the late model stock cars,” Earnhardt said. “I mean, the things that I’ll enjoy (Friday night) are there as well, and [afterward] I can go to some grassroots racetracks and have a good time and enjoy what I love about driving cars just the same.

“I’m going to continue to do that [late model racing] next year.”

And if Friday is his final NASCAR start – despite four top-five finishes in his last seven Xfinity Series appearances – the 49-year-old, who has arguably been one of the faces of the sport since the earliest days of his career, Earnhardt said he has no regrets about anything he’s done in the latter stages.

“I’m just going to see how badly I miss it and see,” Earnhardt admitted. “I mean I figure I’ve only got a handful of these years left to be relatively somewhat competitive, but I’m going to be fine [either way].”