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While we likely won’t see him in NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is going to go race in 2025. That No. 8 late model will be seen again. Of course, Earnhardt is going to return to one of his favorite race tracks.
Florence Motor Speedway released its 2025 schedule. On his Instagram Story a few days ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. reposted that schedule and confirmed that he will be racing at least one date at the track next year.
Dale Jr. will be at the August 29th race at Florence Motor Speedway. On his Instagram Story, according to FloRacing, the driver said, “I’ll see y’all in August.” That race will serve as a precursor to that weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
If Earnhardt is racing the Budweiser No. 8 – I’m sure the crowd will be packed.
That race will be the Cook Out 225 ZMax CARS Tour race. Very exciting for the CARS Tour fans to see the series co-owner mix it up with the full-timers. To this day, Earnhardt remains one of the biggest pulls in stock car racing.
Dale Jr. raced the South Carolina 400 last month at Florence. He had a great chance to win or get a top-five result and mechanical failures took him out in the second-half of the race.
If I were you, I wouldn’t give up on seeing Dale Earnhardt Jr. race at Florence earlier in the year. It is a track he likes a lot, and there is one event there that he has taken an interest in in the last couple of years.
Potential races for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2025
Next summer Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be busy with his Amazon and TNT Sports broadcasting duties. He is back in the booth for that 10-race summer stretch. As far as any potential racing at that time, we can forget about it for those 10 weeks.
However, in the last couple of years, Dale Jr. has raced the Icebreaker at Florence Motor Speedway. The race is between the Clash and the Daytona 500 on February 8th. In 2024, Earnhardt finished 4th in the 125-lap race while his driver Carson Kvapil won.
No word on whether or not we will see Earnhardt at the 2025 edition of the race. But it wouldn’t shock me. Between that event, the CARS Tour races, and the South Carolina 400, it’s a place that Dale Jr. has gotten comfortable racing at.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has made mention of wanting to race at Cordele Motor Speedway when the CARS Tour goes there. He also expressed interest in racing at Anderson Motor Speedway as well. With that Bud No. 8 back in his hands, I suspect he will put it on the track as much as he can.
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Short-lived Memphis-Arkansas Speedway was a tragic piece of NASCAR history
In a time well before NASCAR’s period of westward expansion saw a plethora of 1.5-mile tracks be built across the United States, the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in Crittenden County, Arkansas was an oddity. The track was a high-speed, mile-and-a-half dirt track that featured some of the highest speeds on the NASCAR calendar in its time. Perhaps the most normal aspect of the track was the fact that, like many tracks of the time, it was built in the middle of nowhere. The track sat in Lehi, Arkansas — hardly a hotbed for anything, much less big-league stock car racing. Nevertheless, track owners Nat Epstein, Clarence Camp and Harold Woolridge somehow drew Bill France and 28 NASCAR Cup Series entries to northeastern Arkansas for the first time in October 1954 for the inaugural Mid-South 250. For a period of the sport’s history that featured some of the best stock-car driver to ever compete, the entry list for the track’s first race was relatively sparse in terms of star power. Three-time Cup champion and 1959 Daytona 500 winner Lee Petty led 150 of 167 laps in the first race at the new venue, but an axle issue relegated him to a third-place effort and gave Buck Baker the win. The second race at the track in 1955 showcased the appeal of racing on the high-speed, high-banked dirt track. Fonty Flock led 88 laps and won the race with an average speed of 89.982 miles per hour, a solid pace for the time. A reported crowd of 15,000 was on hand to witness the race. It was in 1956 that the track became infamous. A pair of fatalities among drivers Thomas ‘Cotton’ Priddy, 27, and Clint McHugh, 28, during the 1956 Mid-South 250 weekend solidified its place in NASCAR lore. McHugh’s accident occurred in qualifying on June 9. In his first attempt at qualifying for a Grand National Race, McHugh’s Oldsmobile flipped over a guardrail in Turn 3 and tumbled into a lake. While he was pulled back to land by fans, McHugh died at an area hospital from his injuries. During the race itself on June 10, Priddy was thrown from his vehicle on Lap 39 after contact with another car. Unlike McHugh, Priddy died instantly. “I knew what it was going to be like to be married to Thomas,” Priddy’s widow told the Louisville, Ky. Courier-Journal on June 11, 1956. “I went into the constant worry and pain with my eyes wide open, but I never told him to stop (racing). I expected him to be killed.” At that point, the writing was on the wall for the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway. Epstein, Woolridge and Camp knew that if the track was going to continue to attract NASCAR races in the coming years, it would have to be paved. The problem? Even in 1957, paving a 1.5-mile superspeedway cost $100K, an impossible sum of money for the track’s owners. Land such as that taken up by the speedway is a hot commodity in the Delta region. A farmer purchased the property in 1958 and flooded the infield in an effort to grow catfish. Eventually, the track that once served as a ring for NASCAR’s early gladiators was leveled and used as farmland for soybeans and rice. In a way, the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway encapsulated the unintended arrogance with which many tracks and sanctioning bodies in the early years of professional racing conducted themselves. A track that was once a fascinating venue quickly turned into the site of two incredibly tragic deaths and, after less than five years of racing, was both literally and figuratively leveled.
Patriots have big Drake Maye concern surface at Vikings' joint practice
Defense ruled the day during the joint practice between the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings. Per Chad Graff of The Athletic, the Patriots defense did a masterful job of disrupting Vikings second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy at Wednesday's practice. However, New England's offensive line was unable to allow Drake Maye to have enough time to finish plays. "Even with four new expected starters up front following last year’s debacle, Wednesday suggested that there will likely be some bumps ahead for this offensive line," Graff wrote. "Sure, going up against the Vikings was always going to be a difficult task. Greenard has been wrecking his own team’s practices in training camp, and everyone in New England knows how good Flores’ scheme can be. But the domination was so thorough by the Vikings’ front seven that three straight plays at one point would’ve resulted in a sack." Maye showed flashes of promise when he had time to throw downfield or was able to use his legs to buy time or scramble when pressure came. The concern is that the offensive line won't allow Maye enough time to even scramble so he can make throws. Graff has noticed the same issues that happened on Wednesday have been a constant at training camp against the Patriots defense. With a new-look offensive line that includes first-round pick Will Campbell at left tackle, the Patriots are expected to have some bumps at training camp and in September. New England's offense probably won't look great out of the gate while the offensive line develops in offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' scheme. If and when the offensive line improves, Maye will have a chance to show off the arm that made him the No. 3 pick in 2024. For now, the offensive line is a concern much like it was last season.
Cubs catcher lost to horrific-looking injury on same day he returns from IL
After working to return to the Chicago Cubs' lineup following an oblique injury, Miguel Amaya suffered a gruesome-looking injury in his first game back with the Cubs on Wednesday night. Running to first base, Amaya just beat out an infield single on a slow dribbler to shortstop when his left foot landed forcefully on the base, causing his leg to buckle and sending Amaya flying down the first base line. Following the injury, Amaya was carted off the field in Toronto with a towel over his face. The emotions shown by Amaya as he was carted off indicated he knew already he would miss more time in a season that has been marred by injuries. After the game, Cubs manager Craig Counsell confirmed Amaya would be going back on the injured list with what was diagnosed as a left ankle sprain. X-rays, however, were negative. The 26-year-old Amaya had just told reporters after being activated from the 60-day injured list that he was thankful he was healthy. Just three at-bats later, Amaya was once again injured. Amaya's three at-bats against the Blue Jays on Wednesday represented his first game action since May 24, when he recorded just two at-bats against the Cincinnati Reds before leaving the game with an oblique injury. In just 96 at-bats this season, Amaya is slashing .281/.314/.500 with four home runs and 25 RBI. Amaya's injury is another blow for the Cubs, who have seen their lead in the National League Central evaporate as the Milwaukee Brewers have now won 12 consecutive games and are 20-4 since the All-Star break. As has been the case in Amaya's absence, Carson Kelly and Reese McGuire will continue to be the dominant presences behind the plate for the Cubs. Joining with Amaya, the duo has helped the Cubs record a 2.8 Wins Above Average (WAA) at catcher, the highest mark of any MLB team. After Amaya's injury, the Cubs would go on to post a 4-1 win over the Blue Jays.
Browns HC confirms Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders whispers
A previous report suggested that the Cleveland Browns want to start 2025 third-round draft pick Dillon Gabriel at quarterback for this coming Saturday's preseason game at the Philadelphia Eagles over 2025 fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders as long as Gabriel is healthy enough to play at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field. While speaking with reporters ahead of Wednesday's joint practice involving the clubs, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed that Gabriel began the day on track to start Saturday's contest. "The plan was always to give both of those guys a start in the preseason, so we’ll see how it shakes out," Stefanski explained, as shared by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. Neither Gabriel nor backup Kenny Pickett played in Cleveland's preseason opener at the Carolina Panthers on Friday as they continued to recover from lingering hamstring injuries. Sanders received the bulk of the meaningful reps in that game and completed 14-of-23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-10 win over Carolina. While Gabriel is doing 11-on-11 work during joint practices this week, Pickett remained relegated to 7-on-7 drills as of Wednesday. That said, FanDuel Sportsbook continued to list 40-year-old Joe Flacco as the betting favorite at -310 odds to be the Browns' starting quarterback for their Week 1 game against the Cincinnati Bengals as of Wednesday. Pickett was at +360 odds, followed by Sanders at +1060. Gabriel was a +1800 underdog to get the nod for the Cincinnati matchup at that time. Gabriel began Wednesday as the Browns' unofficial QB3 ahead of Sanders. Meanwhile, Sanders did not get any reps in the opening few periods of the Browns' joint practice with the Eagles on Wednesday morning after suffering an oblique injury. Earlier in the month, the former Colorado star missed some practice time due to arm soreness. Per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Stefanski added that he wants "to get through" Thursday before he finalizes his plans for the Philadelphia game. Unless Gabriel experiences a setback ahead of the weekend, it seems he will receive an opportunity to silence critics while serving as Cleveland's temporary QB1 against the Eagles.
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