For his final full-time season as a driver, NASCAR.com will offer an analytical preview on Dale Earnhardt Jr. ahead of every remaining Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
Race: AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway
Date: June 4, 1 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Previous five results at Dover: 32nd, 3rd, 14th, 17th, 9th
Notable: Dale Earnhardt Jr. has seven top-five finishes at Dover. Up until last fall’s Citizen Soldier 400, Earnhardt had raced in every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the Monster Mile since joining the series full time in 2000. However, that came to an end last year when Earnhardt missed the second half of the season — including the Dover race — due to a concussion. Junior has an average finish of 16.2 at Dover, but perhaps he can bring back the magic from 2001 to the concrete track this weekend.
Memorable moment: Junior has one victory at Dover International Speedway, but it was a meaningful victory for the sport. On Sept. 23, 2001, he took the checkered flag at the MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400, the first NASCAR event following the tragic Sept. 11 attacks. With American pride at a peak in the grandstands, Junior led nearly half the race — 193 of the 400 laps run to win and later circled the track in celebratory fashion in his then No. 8 stock car, hoisting the American flag.
Quotable: “This sport cycles around and I never lose faith that Hendrick Motorsports will find the speed we need,” Earnhardt said in a team release. “I’m ready for Dover.”