“The first thing he said, I didn’t like.” Dale Earnhardt Jr was clear about his opinion regarding Kyle Larson a few weeks ago. The Hendrick Motorsports star soared to victory in the Xfinity Bristol race, a fitting comeback after his Homestead heartbreak. And Larson bragged that he wants to ’embarrass’ the field. That incited Dale Jr, owner of the reigning Xfinity champion team JR Motorsports. This tension, however, was scaled down as soon as he met Larson in a special equation.
After the Xfinity race at Talladega Superspeedway, Connor Zilisch incurred a lower back injury. Dale Jr’s No. 77 Xfinity Series driver was relegated to rest during the Texas weekend. That was how Larson got his chance to come back for his ’embarrassment’ opportunity. But Dale Jr’s emotions changed.
Dale Earnhardt Jr rooted for the ‘golden boy’
Well, Kyle Larson’s status as a legendary NASCAR Cup Series driver is undeniable. The HMS phenomenon holds the 2021 title and has clinched 31 race trophies (and counting). His versatility has especially grabbed eyeballs in recent times, as he attempted the ‘Double’ in May 2024 and plans to do it again this year. So we cannot run short of commendations for the driver who is locked in a fight with Max Verstappen for being the ‘best racer in the world.’ That is all the more reason why Dale Earnhardt Jr rolled up his sleeves to teach Larson a lesson the next time he visited Xfinity. The veteran gritted his teeth and claimed, “I wish he would sign up for some more races now.” However, the universe works in strange ways.
The cosmos conspired in such a way that Dale Earnhardt Jr softened his feelings towards Kyle Larson. That automatically became the case when Dale Jr had to fall back on the HMS racer to sub for Connor Zilisch at the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 race. Dale Jr reflected on it in a ‘Dale Jr Download’ episode: “Larson had called us before…He’s shown interest in driving our cars…My team was like, ‘We’re working with Trackhouse, let’s see if Chastain can do it’…Well, Chastain can’t do it because he would then exceed his limit of races…So, back to Larson we go. And Larson was like, ‘Yup, I’m in.’”
May 22, 2022; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Daniel Suarez (99) and NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick (8) lead the pack to a restart during the All-Star Open at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
The Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway was not without difficulty. Staying true to the wildcard nature of the 1.5-mile track, the race featured 11 cautions. Starting 20th in the 38-car field, Kyle Larson dodged all these wrecks to emerge victorious in the end. So Dale Earnhardt Jr admitted to feeling nervous for Larson, as he was driving his own team’s car. The 26-time Cup Series race winner recounted how his emotions went through a massive change.
Dale Jr said, “The funny thing about that was we were on this show a couple of weeks ago, going after he said he wanted to embarrass the field, which we are a part of…we took offense. ‘Hey, sign up for a couple more’…And he’s like, ‘Ah, don’t have any more race plans this time.’ Then the universe heard all that…So there I was with Kyle Larson, who’s nearly an automatic win, plugged into your car. And now he’s going to try to embarrass the field in our car. And I told him, ‘Alright, now I feel a little bit different.’ When he’s driving your car, it’s great.”
Among the factors that could have hindered Kyle Larson’s victory was his teammate. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr was not concerned about that.
Patting his veteran driver on the back
Watching Kyle Larson soar to Victory Lane in the No. 77 JRM car left Dale Jr bubbling with joy. That may be the reason why the JRM co-owner did not get ticked off after the race. His other driver, 2024 Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier, was the star of the show in Texas. He led for 99 laps after starting from the runner-up spot. Yet Allgaier’s sparkling dominance came undone when he was approaching a round of green flag pit stops. He tried to evade the No. 5 Chevrolet driven by Kris Wright, but this car happened to be inconsistent in lanes. So the No. 7 Chevy could not avoid him, and Allgaier slammed the outside wall. Before his day ended in misery, Allgaier gave a tough fight to Kyle Larson nonetheless.
Kyle Larson trailed his Xfinity Series teammate closely by leading 32 laps. But Justin Allgaier was prepared to fight till the end as both battled each other. Dale Earnhardt Jr was proud of Allgaier’s efforts, which came in Larson’s way: “I was also very happy to see our No. 7 — Justin Allgaier — making it as hard as he could for Larson. They had a really spirited battle… Justin was in a car that had a chance to win, and with all the chaos that happened late in the race and how it got challenging for even Larson to pull off, Justin could have been in the middle of all that with a chance to seize an opportunity.”
Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr can be pretty candid with his emotions, even when they change for a potential rival. Let us see if he gets together with Kyle Larson again in the future.
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