RELATED: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s complete history at Miami
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: Ford EcoBoost 400
Date: Sunday, Nov. 19, 3 p.m. ET (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Previous five results at Miami: 40th, 14th, third, 10th, 11th
RELATED: All of Earnhardt’s victories in the Monster Energy Series
Notable: The weekend JR Nation has been anticipating since April is here: Earnhardt’s final start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time driver. Fittingly, he will do it while running a paint scheme he is most known for, a throwback to his beginnings at Dale Earnhardt Inc., in the famous red and black Budweiser machine. Sunday will be Earnhardt’s 17th start at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the 631st of his career.
Memorable: Miami has not been a place to get excited about for Earnhardt. While the track allows him to do something most drivers enjoy — run up along the wall — Earnhardt’s results haven’t been as pleasant. In 16 starts at the 1.5-miler, Earnhardt has just two top-10 finishes, both of which came in back-to-back seasons (2012-13). In 2013, Earnhardt found himself in contention for the victory as he led inside the final 30 laps before being overtaken by Denny Hamlin. However, Earnhardt put up an entertaining fight with Matt Kenseth, as the two traded paint and the second spot back and forth. Earnhardt, who led 28 laps, finished third and wound up fifth in the final championship standings.
Quotable: “I am not sure that I’m ready to be going through all of the emotion that I will have in Homestead, but it’s coming. I hope that I can handle it well, but it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how that feels. All these videos and all these things that our partners are creating, this content has just been incredible. It makes you feel so good in your heart.”