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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Great patience surpassed high anticipation surrounding Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s return to the race track Saturday morning at Daytona International Speedway.
Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports crew was still working feverishly on his No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet in the garage area as his competitors rolled out for Daytona 500 opening practice. Earnhardt, meanwhile, stood back still wearing a ball cap, his arms crossed as he alternated between glancing at the scoring screen and watching his team prep the car — computers on the roof, hood up.
About 30-40 fans lined up four- and five-deep in the fan area behind the garage while a dozen photographers waited just outside his stall. The two-time Daytona 500 winner put his helmet on 30 minutes into the session and climbed into the car for his first official practice laps since July of 2016. (He missed the final 18 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races of 2016 because of a concussion.)
And then just as it looked like he would join competition for the first time in seven months, a caution flag came out for debris.
Earnhardt was the 36th car to roll onto the track, nearly 50 minutes into the almost four-hour session. His first lap was 17th-fastest at 190.504 mph. He finished the session in 11th place at 192.67 mph. Joey Logano led the practice, which was in preparation for Sunday’s single-car, two-round qualifying (3:10 p.m. ET, FOX).
Earnhardt ended the session with the 11th-fastest lap and some invaluable confidence being back in the driver seat again.
“It felt good to just get out there and get to work a little bit and be with the guys and see all the familiar faces in the garage, other drivers and team members and so forth,” Earnhardt said following Saturday’s nearly four-hour practice. “Just trying to put as many laps as I can behind me and get further and further into this deal to where the events from last year become more of a distant memory and don’t define me as who I am so much anymore. It will be good to get in the car and get some good wins and good finishes under our belt this season. That is our plan.”