Dale Earnhardt Jr. woke up today wanting to race! So, he announced his entry in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock race at All-American Speedway. The NASCAR Hall of Famer returns to the track this weekend.
The zMAX CARS Tour has produced a couple of stars in recent weeks. Bubba Pollard and Carson Kvapil made their NASCAR Xfinity Series debuts in the last two weeks with JR Motorsports. Both came up with top-10 finishes and impressed a lot of folks.
This weekend Dale Earnhardt Jr. is putting more attention on his series. Saturday night won’t have any NASCAR action, so why not tune into the race at New River All-American Speedway?
Dale Jr. is back in the Bass Pro Shops No. 3 Chevy. The race is at 7:30 PM streaming on FloRacing.
In the last handful of years, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has given back to racing in a big way. Grassroots racers and tracks are the lifeblood of the sport. Ideally, the CARS Tour, ASA Stars National Tour, and other series are there to develop talent.
You really don’t have to look far to see the CARS Tour is filled to the brim with talent. Bubba Pollard, Carson Kvapil, and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen have made their NASCAR debuts or will make their NASCAR debut at one point this season. All will be racing in CARS Tour full-time or part-time.
Not to mention, Connor Zilisch has CARS Tour races scheduled this year. The 17-year-old phenom actually won his first race in the series this past weekend. His season continues to be insanely impressive, driving and succeeding in every series he steps into.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. suiting up this weekend
As for Dale Earnhardt Jr. this is another chance for race fans to see him in action. While Earnhardt has his one Xfinity Series race scheduled for Bristol later this season, he has to knock the rust off a bit. Since he owns the CARS Tour, why not get reps in there?
The CARS Tour is going to be the next big thing in stock car racing. It would not shock me to see manufacturers and teams looking into expanding into that series. As long as these grassroots drivers are racing under Dale Jr.’s banner, they are going to have a spotlight on them.
NASCAR, and motorsports in general, has a nepotism and sponsorship problem. It just does. And that is part of the culture of racing, you pass it down from one generation to another. Sponsorships can hinge on family connections and other factors as well. It keeps genuine talent out of the big leagues and dilutes the product overall.
However, the CARS Tour is changing that, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is helping to change that. Talent should be able to earn you a shot at the highest level. Plain and simple. Now Dale Jr. just has to worry about competing against these talented racers he’s helping move along the way.
More must-reads: