Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Blaney rolls to Dover victory | XFINITY Playoffs standings

DOVER, Del. — As highly-motivated race car drivers are prone to be, William Byron was admittedly conflicted standing on Dover International Speedway pit road Saturday afternoon following the “Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200.”

He won the pole position, led laps (62), won the opening stage, and took the checkered flag in third position behind JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier and race winner, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Ryan Blaney.

But short of a victory, it was more of a “big picture” kind of day for the 19-year old Byron, who jumped from fifth to second — three points behind Allgaier — in the XFINITY Series championship standings heading into next weekend’s elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The bottom four of the 12 playoff drivers will be ousted from championship contention following that race.

Byron boasts a series-best 26 playoff points on the season. But on Saturday after leading the first 62 laps, he got beat off pit road by Blaney during the second round of pit stops and then Allgaier passed him for second place in the final stage of the race — nipping Byron’s chance at a series-best fourth trophy hoist on the season.

Still, Byron smiled after climbing out of his No. 9 AXALTA Chevrolet and seemed content with a solid day after leading laps and adding to his series-high playoff point total.

“Overall, this is kind of the day we needed and we’ll be able to go Charlotte with peace of mind,’’ Byron said.

Last week, Byron finished 18th at Kentucky in the XFINITY Series playoff opener and was 33rd the week before in Chicago – uncharacteristic showings for NASCAR’s highly-touted title favorite only months removed from being named to the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Monster Energy Series ride.

So the Dover outcome was a well-timed boost for Byron as the series heads to Charlotte to conclude the first round.

The race winner, Monster Energy playoff contender Blaney, conceded he was very aware of the playoff scenario happening around him.

“The intensity level, you feel,’’ Blaney said. “It’s definitely noticed. You know what they’re going for … I was aware and it was really cool to see the intensity level raised. I like it when it’s really intense from lap one on.’’

Both Byron and Allgaier noted the strength of their JR Motorsports team its effort at Dover. Teammate Elliott Sadler — the regular season points leader —  finished ninth and Michael Annett was 11th.

“Happy and flowers and lollipops for sure,’’ a smiling Allgaier said of racing closely for a championship amongst his teammates.

“The cool thing is we have four different race teams, four drivers that are completely different at where they’re at in their careers. …but the cool thing is we all tend to run very evenly and push each other. Very rarely will you see us have an issue amongst the group of us on track. That’s one of the strengths of Junior Motorsports.

“We work really hard and we work really well together and drive each other better. That’s a challenge you have.

“[Team co-owner] Kelly [Earnhardt Miller] has said multiple times, make sure you have the best race cars at the race track and you guys go have fun, battle each other, push as hard as you can, just don’t go wreck each other.”

And in this case, challenge for the championship.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Race results | Detailed breakdown | Full schedule for Dover, Las Vegas

DOVER, Del. — Once Ryan Blaney got the lead in Saturday’s “Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200” at Dover International Speedway, it was “game over” in the second NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoff race of the season.

After Playoff driver William Byron led every lap of the 60-circuit first stage and banked a playoff point, Blaney took the lead off pit road under caution on Lap 64. Blaney kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front the rest of the way, except for one lap led by Daniel Suarez on pit road under caution after the conclusion of Stage 2.

Playoff driver Justin Allgaier charged from fourth to second on the Lap 128 restart that began the final stage, which ran under a green flag to the finish. Though Allgaier was able to hold off Byron, his JR Motorsports teammate, and hold the series lead, he had nothing for Blaney, who finished 4.852 seconds ahead of Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet.

“It’s really hard to get a car like that, and, to be honest, we didn’t have it in the first run,” said Blaney, who will try to advance to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 in Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 (on NBCSN at 2 p.m. ET). “We were a little bit off on the first run. We made some great changes after the first stage to get it better to where it needs to be.

“We actually got it better for the last run… As a driver, that’s all you can ask for, great changes throughout. It’s awesome to get to Victory Lane with (sponsor) Fitzgerald. This is really cool. We were close the first race this year and just didn’t quite get it. Definitely learned a lot for tomorrow.”

The victory was Blaney’s sixth in the series, his second this season and his first at the Monster Mile.

Though he couldn’t catch Blaney over the final run, Allgaier also had reason to celebrate as the highest finishing series regular. Heading to Charlotte 54 points above the current cut line for the second round of the XFINITY Playoff, Allgaier is a virtual lock to advance.

So is Byron, who chased Allgaier for the final 73 green-flag laps but couldn’t find a way past his teammate. Byron is 51 points above the cutoff with the Playoff field scheduled to be pared from 12 to eight drivers next Saturday at Charlotte.

“I was trying to put it in Victory Lane,” Allgaier said. “We just needed a little more. I ran high some, low some. There at the end we made a great adjustment, and I was able to run the bottom, where I wanted to run all day.

“It paid off. Obviously, second place is not quite Victory Lane, but in the points battle we’re playing, it’s pretty darn close.”

In the battle to survive the Playoff cutoff, Brendan Gaughan gained ground with a 10th-place finish. Facing the elimination race at Charlotte, Gaughan is ninth in points, two behind eighth-place Ryan Reed, who finished a lap down in 16th-place at Dover.

Playoff drivers Daniel Hemric, Brennan Poole and Matt Tifft came home fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, to improve their chances to make the Round of 8. Daniel Suarez ran seventh, joining Blaney as the only non-XFINITY regulars to finish in the top 12.

Rookie Cole Custer and regular-season champion Elliott Sadler, both well above the current cut line, ran eighth and ninth respectively.

Posted on by Holly Cain

What: Apache Warrior 400 presented by Lucas Oil
Where: Dover International Speedway, 1-mile oval in Dover, Delaware
Green flag: 2:15 p.m. ET
TV/Radio: NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Forecast: Sunny with a high of 68, according to the National Weather Service. Winds 8-10 mph out of the NNE.
National anthem: USO Show Troupe
Grand Marshal: Wyclef Jean, 3-time Grammy Award musician, producer and actor
Race distance: 400 laps, 400 miles
Pit road speed: 35 mph
Caution car speed: 45 mph
Stage lengths: Stage 1 ends on Lap 120. Stage 2 ends on Lap 240. Final stage is scheduled to end on Lap 400.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Final practice results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch (P) 1 10 155.518
2 24 Chase Elliott (P) 1 10 155.510
3 11 Denny Hamlin (P) 1 10 155.049
4 1 Jamie McMurray (P) 1 10 155.006
5 42 Kyle Larson (P) 12 21 154.945
6 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) 1 10 154.792
7 21 Ryan Blaney (P) 1 10 154.563
8 4 Kevin Harvick (P) 31 40 154.447
9 2 Brad Keselowski (P) 1 10 154.444
10 41 Kurt Busch (P) 1 10 154.276
11 14 Clint Bowyer 12 21 154.215
12 19 Daniel Suarez # 1 10 154.113
13 78 Martin Truex Jr. (P) 2 11 154.107
14 22 Joey Logano 1 10 154.063
15 77 Erik Jones # 1 10 153.957
16 5 Kasey Kahne (P) 17 26 153.693
17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 10 153.413
18 38 David Ragan 1 10 153.388
19 31 Ryan Newman (P) 1 10 153.388
20 43 Aric Almirola 1 10 153.326
21 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P) 28 37 153.312
22 6 Trevor Bayne 1 10 153.259
23 13 Ty Dillon # 1 10 152.899
24 3 Austin Dillon (P) 1 10 152.676
25 27 Paul Menard 29 38 152.217
26 10 Danica Patrick 1 10 152.163
27 47 AJ Allmendinger 24 33 152.099
28 34 Landon Cassill 1 10 151.942
29 32 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 151.482
30 15 Ross Chastain(i) 25 34 149.401
31 83 * Brett Moffitt(i) 13 22 147.011
32 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt 16 25 146.857

RELATED: Practice 2 results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch (P) 1 10 155.165
2 1 Jamie McMurray (P) 1 10 154.860
3 14 Clint Bowyer 1 10 154.726
4 41 Kurt Busch (P) 27 36 153.384
5 5 Kasey Kahne (P) 25 34 153.202
6 2 Brad Keselowski (P) 30 39 153.076
7 11 Denny Hamlin (P) 18 27 152.940
8 4 Kevin Harvick (P) 22 31 152.927
9 19 Daniel Suarez # 27 36 152.783
10 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P) 22 31 152.671
11 3 Austin Dillon (P) 21 30 152.514
12 20 Matt Kenseth (P) 23 32 152.481
13 77 Erik Jones # 9 18 152.366
14 13 Ty Dillon # 23 32 151.621
15 21 Ryan Blaney (P) 29 38 151.494
16 31 Ryan Newman (P) 28 37 151.474
17 38 David Ragan 19 28 151.027
18 24 Chase Elliott (P) 28 37 150.907
19 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) 25 34 149.746

RELATED: Practice 1 results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 14 Clint Bowyer 2 11 155.856
2 24 Chase Elliott (P) 10 19 155.654
3 6 Erik Jones # 7 16 153.231

* Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.
# Driver is a rookie in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
(P) Driver is a NASCAR Playoffs participant.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Final practice results | 10-lap averages | Weekend schedule

Chase Elliott set the pace in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, topping the Saturday afternoon charts with a 157.363-mph lap at Dover International Speedway.

Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet edged teammate Jimmie Johnson by .067 seconds in the 55-minute final tune-up at the “Monster Mile.” Elliott will start 12th in Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), the final event for the three-race Round of 16 in the NASCAR Playoffs.

The four lowest-ranking drivers will be cut from the postseason field after Sunday’s 400-miler. Only four drivers — Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski — have already clinched berths in the next round by virtue of Round of 16 victories or an insurmountable points cushion.

Johnson, an 11-time Dover winner, turned the second-fastest lap (156.904 mph) in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevy. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch completed the top five in the closing session as playoff-eligible drivers swept the top nine leaderboard spots.

Truex will start first Sunday after prevailing in Friday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying. Truex posted the 16th-fastest lap in final practice in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota.

Several teams served penalties with deductions from their on-track time in final practice. The heaviest hit was for Leavine Family Racing and driver Michael McDowell, who was forced to sit out all 55 minutes because the team’s No. 95 Ford failed Friday’s qualifying inspection four times.

Four teams were held for 30 minutes for failed inspections from this weekend at Dover and last weekend at New Hampshire:

  • Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford of Clint Bowyer
  • Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota of Matt Kenseth
  • Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet of Kyle Larson
  • Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

A total of eight teams served 15-minute penalties:

  • Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet of Austin Dillon
  • Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet of Kasey Kahne
  • Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain
  • Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet of Ryan Newman
  • GoFas Racing No. 32 Ford of Matt DiBenedetto
  • Furniture Row Racing No. 77 Toyota of Erik Jones
  • Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.
  • BK Racing No. 83 Toyota of Brett Moffitt

Harvick tops the heap in Saturday morning practice

RELATED: Practice 2 results

Kevin Harvick led Saturday’s early Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice when he wheeled his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford around Dover International Speedway  at 156.535 mph.

Harvick, who is currently 10th in the NASCAR Playoffs standings ahead of Sunday’s Round of 16 elimination Apache Warrior 400 (2 p.m. NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), won this race in 2015.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who praised his car’s speed after qualifying seventh Friday, was second-fastest after guiding his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet around the 1-mile track at 156.413 mph.

Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray and Erik Jones rounded out the top five.

The speed was new for McMurray, who qualified 26th, his worst starting spot of the season.

Seven of the top 10 cars in practice were from drivers competing in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Midway through practice Jimmie Johnson was called to the hauler for speeding on pit road with his No. 48 Chevrolet. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 17 Ford, also was called for the same reason.

Five drivers — none of whom are competing in the playoffs — served 15-minute practice holds for being late to qualifying inspection: Ross Chastain, Landon Cassill, BJ McLeod, Reed Sorenson and Brett Moffitt.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

DOVER, Del. — A stroke of misfortune for Todd Gilliland opened the door for Harrison Burton to win the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship at Dover International Speedway, and Burton left no doubt by claiming the race win in a NASCAR Overtime finish Friday night.

Burton surged late for the race win to become the youngest NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion at 16 years old; he turns 17 on Oct. 9.

The points leader entering the race, Gilliland hit the wall on Lap 56 when a tire went down. That brought the 17-year-old’s day to an early end and set the stage for Burton to lay claim to the title.

“It’s pretty surreal,” Burton said. “I’m pretty pumped up about it. It’s kind of one of those moments where, last year I remember looking at my teammate Justin Haley who won the championship and I wanted to be on that podium making a speech at the ceremony. Now I get to be that guy.”

RELATED: Detailed 2017 K&N Pro Series East results

Coming from behind was an unfamiliar feeling for Burton, as his strong start to the 2017 season had him atop the standings after 11 of 14 races this season. Gilliland held an eight-point edge entering Dover on the strength of eight top-two finishes in the series (four wins, four runner-up finishes).

Burton won the title by eight points.

The two rising talents battled for the championship all season. In their 28 combined starts in 14 total races, they combined for nine wins and just six finishes outside the top five. In fact, Gilliland’s 13th-place finish at Dover was the worst for either of them this season. 

There’s quite a bit in common for both Burton and Gilliland. Both are members of the 2017-18 NASCAR Next class. Both have competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports as part of several drivers to run the No. 51 truck for the organization.

MORE: Meet the NASCAR Next Class of 2017-18

Both also have racing in their veins. Gilliland is the son of NASCAR veteran David Gilliland and Burton is the son of Jeff Burton, 21-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner and a NASCAR analyst on NBC. Among those to congratulate Jeff Burton as he made his way to Victory Lane were Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick (Harvick’s management company, KHI, represents Harrison Burton).

“My mom (Kimberle) and dad are my biggest fans by far,” Harrison Burton said. “My mom is probably the most emotional person I’ve ever met. … We have our pit box that travels with us every week and you can always tell where my mom sits because there’s actual dents. Some have said it looks like hail damage where she has been stomping the top of the tool box during my races. That kind of sums it up pretty well.

“We’re a racing family and to share a championship with the people that love you the most is pretty cool.”

A downed tire ruined Todd Gilliland’s day and championship hopes. (Brian Lawdermilk | Getty Images)

Gilliland was looking to make NASCAR touring series history as the first driver to capture both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West titles in the same season. The defending NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champ currently is atop the standings in that series, as well, with three races to go. In fact, the 17-year-old planned to fly west to Meridian Speedway for a race on Saturday in the K&N Pro Series West following Friday’s race at Dover.

Gilliland, who holds a five-point lead in the West championship battle over Chris Eggleston, was dejected after the accident at Dover, but took a long-range view of what this season meant.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Gilliland told NASCAR.com. “We had a fast enough car out here to win the championship. We have all year. I hate that we didn’t have a bigger points lead than this coming in here. … It’s about learning. It’s what we are here to do. We are just going to get better for my future.”

The Burton-Gilliland year-long battle atop the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings is just the latest chapter is the rising youth contingent in NASCAR. That is seen in the rise of Kyle Larson, the 2012 K&N Pro Series East champion, to a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title favorite, in a Monster Energy Series win by Ryan Blaney, playoff appearances for Chase Elliott, the strength of the current rookie crop of Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez and the ascension of William Byron to the sport’s top series in 2018.

Previous drivers to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title include Joey Logano, Larson and Byron.

“Now that I am able to be a NASCAR champion officially, hopefully that helps me in my career,” Burton said. “It’s really a huge honor for me to get that done.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Alias Dale Jr. would use for possible late-model races | Qualifying results

DOVER, Del. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. was all smiles and high hopes as he walked down pit road following qualifying for Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 at Dover International Speedway.

NASCAR’s reigning Most Popular Driver qualified seventh Friday on the Monster Mile — his best start since March on any non-restrictor plate track.

His No. 88 Nationwide Chevy will be the second-highest Chevrolet on the grid — best of his Hendrick Motorsports team and one of only three non-playoff drivers who advanced to the final round of qualifying.

And the good news for both him and his loyal legions? Earnhardt — the 2001 Dover winner — thinks his car could easily finish better than it starts.

“Heck yeah I’m happy,” Earnhardt said while walking down pit road as fans in the grandstands cheered and shouted their approval.

“I didn’t know what to expect. Our car was real fast off the truck. We had some pretty good comfort in practice. So I was feeling pretty confident about it, but yet we’ve had the same thing happen week after week where we’ve been confident and not backed it up. But this car was really nice right off the track. We ran some really good laps in the first run in practice and was right there with the 4 [Kevin Harvick], which I think he’ll be great.”

Earnhardt got a slightly late start to qualifying as NASCAR officials spent extra time inspecting his car. As he walked back toward the garage following the qualifying session, he said he anticipated an extra “hold” time by NASCAR for tomorrow’s final practice session.

“We ran some good laps on our qualifying mock runs and actually ran the mock runs on our race tires so we saved another set for tomorrow and we’ll have more stickers for practice tomorrow, but it came at a cost,” Earnhardt said.

“Thankfully our car is good and comfortable. If we were really struggling with speed and balance I’d be real upset because we need all the practice we can.

“I’m thankful the car is fast. So, hopefully we’ll learn what we can in the little bit of practice we’re going to get. I think we’ve got a chance at a real good run this weekend. I really do.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Qualifying results | Full schedule for Dover, Las Vegas

DOVER, Del. – The two drivers who have seized control of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff continued their domination in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Dover International Speedway.

Navigating the Monster Mile in 22.407 seconds (160.664 mph) in the final round, Martin Truex Jr. edged Kyle Busch (160.392 mph) for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 (on NBCSN at 2 p.m. ET), the elimination race in the Playoff’s Round of 16.

Truex won his second Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his third at Dover — the closest facility to his Mayetta, New Jersey, home town — and the 14th of his career. Winner of a series-best five races this season, Truex will start on the front row for the ninth time this season.

“We just kind of chased it a little bit — chased the balance — and I thought we were pretty close at the end of practice,” Truex said. “We hit it pretty close for Round 1 (of qualifying) and tweaked on it a little from there.

“We put together a decent lap for Round 1, and the guys did an awesome job all day. So, really proud of them, and I’m looking forward to getting some more bonus points.

With a victory at Chicagoland Speedway in the opening event of the Playoff, Truex already has locked up a spot in the Round of 12. His 19 stage wins and 59 Playoff points both are tops in the series.

Going for his third straight qualifying sweep, Busch was fastest in the first and second rounds but fell short in the third. With last Sunday’s victory at New Hampshire, Busch also is guaranteed a spot in the Round of 12.

MORE: Starting lineup in photos | Playoff Bubble Watch

“It was a good run for us,” said Busch, whose lap at 160.800 mph in the second round was the fastest of the day. “I thought the first two rounds, obviously, we showed really good speed — probably used up a little too much tire in Round 2, and I just wasn’t able to follow through in that third round and get a quick enough time to hold off Martin. …

“But I’m excited to have a Toyota front row, and we’ll go race ’em on Sunday.”

With Kyle Larson qualifying third and Matt Kenseth fourth, playoff drivers swept the top four spots, and Toyota drivers claimed five of the top six. Daniel Suarez will start fifth, followed by playoff driver Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who posted his first single-digit qualifying effort since winning the pole at Daytona in July.

After posting the third-fastest time in Friday’s opening practice, 11-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson qualified a disappointing 17th and failed to advance to the final round.

“The track changed a little more than we adjusted for is really what it boils down to,” Johnson said. “We felt like it was going to do that and made an effort at it and just didn’t go far enough.”

Nevertheless, Johnson has unwavering confidence in his No. 48 Chevrolet under race conditions.

“Yeah, the great thing is just how fast the car was off the truck,” said Johnson, who is seeking an unprecedented eighth series championship. “I know when it comes to race time we will be fine here. Qualifying for me is qualifying, so we had speed this morning, and I know it’s in there.”

Of the drivers fighting from the bottom of the playoff standings for the final positions in the Round of 12, Ryan Newman had the best effort in time trials, qualifying eighth. Relative to the field, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. improved over practice and secured the 15th position on the grid.

Austin Dillon, currently tied with Stenhouse for the 12th and final position in the next round, will start 23rd, while Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne — both of whom likely will need a victory to advance from their respective 15th and 16th positions in the standings — qualified 13th and 21st, respectively.

“We just didn’t have the rotation we needed to kind of finish off the end of the corner,” Dillon said. “It’s tough. We’ve been not that great since we unloaded. We’ll keep working on it though. Usually, the race comes to us a lot more than qualifying does.”

 

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Full Dover schedule | Playoff standings

DOVER, Del. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. stressed Friday afternoon at Dover International Speedway that any post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing days will be the result of a mutual decision between him and his wife, Amy.

But should he be inclined to enter a local short-track weekend feature, NASCAR’s 14-time and reigning Most Popular Driver grinned and confirmed he has used aliases before – a favorite, he revealed was “William Bonney,” Billy the Kid’s name.

But, he conceded with a grin, “I doubt I’d even try it. I’d just come in there and race. I really don’t have any reason to hide I suppose.’’

The two-time Daytona 500 winner Earnhardt is retiring at the end of the season and indicated he fully intends to enjoy his post-competition days. In addition to his work on NBC’s Cup Series telecasts next year, it would be only natural for him to still include an occasional short-track visit — to race or to watch.

“I might enjoy signing some autographs and just kinda being in that environment as a driver,’’ he said. “It might be hard to just quit cold turkey. It might do me some good to hold those feelings again.”

“I could be in the pits rumbling around. I’ve been there as a car owner. I was lucky enough to be there at one particular race we won and got some pictures in Victory Lane, which is a lot of fun. I’m sure I’ll miss that as a driver.

“I don’t want to make this sound like I have plans to do this. I have a wife at home that’s part of this discussion. I have to make sure it’s good for both of us and fun to do and maybe I’ll go do that.’’

WATCH: Dale Jr. ‘Legacy’ Series, part 2: Healing after tragedy

Earnhardt mentioned several times during his press conference that he is most hopeful that he and his newlywed, Amy, will soon have children to consider.

“I’m excited to start a family, and I hope I’m fortunate enough to do that with Amy,’’ he said. “We definitely want to do that. And it would be weird not being a race car driver if I have a daughter or son, I think about that, would they understand what I’m telling them or what I did for a long time. I’m hoping to find out all that stuff soon.’’