Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. run Pocono Truck race?

When will he make his debut as a driver in the series? He may have given a hint during the FOX Sports 1 “Setup” pre-race show when feature reporter Ray Dunlap mentioned that Pocono Raceway hosts the series on August 1 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).

“That would be an opportunity for me to get in there and get my feet wet,” Earnhardt said. “It’s only a 50-lap race so it would be over and done before I even do it.

“I do have interest in driving a truck. I’ve always had interest in driving a truck, just never really found that opportunity or was focused more on the Cup side at that point in time. But this does open the door a little wide for me. If we don’t do it this year, we’re going to continue to keep the truck around and work with this program and continue to try to grow it.”

Serving as an analyst, two-time Camping World Truck Series champion Todd Bodine said Pocono “absolutely” would be a good place for Earnhardt to get behind the wheel.

“He’s not going to own a race car or race truck that he doesn’t get to drive, and you heard him say that he’s wanted to drive a truck so it’s a perfect opportunity if you own it,” Bodine said.

Earnhardt recalled his father’s Dale Earnhardt Inc. Truck Series team that won two of the first four championships in series history with Ron Hornaday Jr.

“I have a lot of great memories of that team,” Earnhardt said. “We actually worked in the same shop together, and it had two bays in the back. They were in one bay, and I was across from them in another bay building my Late Model cars that I’d run at Myrtle Beach. I was in there every day, watching them and sort of mimicking them as they built their first truck. I did everything they were doing to my Late Model that they would do to that truck.

“I formed a great relationship and friendship with Ron Hornaday so that was pretty cool to be able to forge that relationship early with him.”

As Earnhardt builds his own Truck team for 17-year-old Custer, he’s helping the NASCAR Next driver and sponsor Haas Automation achieve their objectives while JRM is meeting its own milestones.

“Their goals are to get Cole into the XFINITY Series at some point so this was an opportunity to begin a relationship with us,” Earnhardt said. “It made sense to get into the Truck Series.

“For me, it’s actually exciting because it’s a 10-race deal. You’re just kind of getting your feet wet. It’s a great way to ease into it so we had the room. We had the interest. They had the program already together, the relationship with Chevrolet. We made it work.”

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