Dale Earnhardt Jr. Shares His Thoughts on Chase Elliott’s Home Track: “Feels Like Everything Is on Edge”
NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently reflected on the weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a venue particularly significant to former Cup Series champion Chase Elliott. According to Earnhardt Jr., competing at Atlanta is a major mental challenge for drivers.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale Jr. launched his NASCAR career in the Xfinity Series in 1996, eventually securing back-to-back championships in 1998 and 1999. Over his career, he claimed 50 victories across NASCAR’s top-tier series, though he never captured a Cup Series championship, unlike his father, who won seven titles.
During his Cup Series tenure, Earnhardt Jr. only clinched one win at the 1.540-mile quad-oval track, achieving victory in 2004—the same year he won his first Daytona 500. After this past weekend’s race, the two-time Xfinity Series champion took to social media, posting on X:
“Man, this racetrack has something special. I’m tensed up! What these drivers are doing is so mentally tough. Feels like everything is on edge.”
Chase Elliott, piloting the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, made his 14th career Cup Series start at his home track but endured a disappointing race. After starting in 18th position, he became entangled in an incident involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Briscoe. As the two battled for position in turns 3 and 4, Stenhouse Jr. lost control, making contact with Elliott and sending him into the wall. Though Elliott managed to continue racing, he was unable to fully recover from the damage.
Since retiring from full-time competition, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has remained deeply involved in the sport as the owner of JR Motorsports, a team that has claimed four Xfinity Series championships. Most recently, JR Motorsports marked a major milestone as their reigning Xfinity Series champion, Justin Allgaier, helped the team make its first-ever appearance in the Daytona 500 earlier this month, solidifying the Earnhardt legacy.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Discusses JR Motorsports’ Plans After Promising Daytona 500 Debut
Justin Allgaier drove the #40 Travellers Whiskey Chevrolet in JR Motorsports’ first-ever Daytona 500 appearance, delivering an impressive top-10 result. Following the strong showing, Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of JRM and a two-time Daytona 500 winner, addressed the team’s potential future in the Cup Series.
Speaking on his podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt Jr. commented:
“I guess the thing is, everybody’s wondering what’s next for Junior Motorsports. I think that Traveller and those folks had a really great time. If they feel like it’s worthwhile for them to put in another investment, to go run another race with that car at another track—you know, Daytona or Talladega, maybe Daytona later this year—that’s to be determined. If they want to do that, we would probably do it, we’d probably just rerun it, and rack it up. So that’s a possibility, we’ll see.”
Meanwhile, Christopher Bell, representing Joe Gibbs Racing, claimed his first victory of the 2025 season by winning the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This win secures Bell’s spot in the Cup Series playoffs early in the season.
