RICHMOND, Va. – Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s main goal during Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series GoBowling 250 at Richmond Raceway was to have fun, and he certainly accomplished that mission.

However, Earnhardt nearly ticked a second box during his first time back in a race car since last November’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. He won the second stage of the event and contended for the victory, leading a race-high 96 laps before fading back to a fourth-place finish on a series of late restarts.

Earnhardt looked like he had never been away from the seat, qualifying second and racing all night long with Christopher Bell and his own JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier. The Bell and Allgaier duo has been the dominant force in the Xfinity Series this season, but Earnhardt was right with them.

He took the lead from Bell for the first time on lap 124, pulling away to the first stage victory of his NASCAR career in any of the top three series, and then controlled much of the final stage from the front of the field before a caution flag with 31 laps remaining sent the field down pit road for tires and service.

Earnhardt was beaten off pit road at that point by Matt Tifft, shuffling him into the outside lane for the ensuing restart with 25 to go, and he fell back as far as fifth after spinning the tires and not finding the grip he needed.

A final restart with 14 to go saw Earnhardt get a better launch off the outside, following eventual winner Christopher Bell briefly before settling into fourth at the checkered flag.

“We just didn’t have the car at the end,” noted Earnhardt. “Restarting on the outside was kind of tough. We just didn’t have what we needed right there. I’m glad we got to lead a lot of laps though, and that we ran real good for Hellmann’s and all the people that came out to watch us. I had a lot of fun.”

Earnhardt set his career laps-led mark at a single track on Friday night, pointing out that the three-quarter-mile Richmond oval is extremely similar to a track he cut his teeth at during his late model days.

“I raced at Myrtle Beach for four years in the mid-90s, when I was growing up and trying to learn how to drive, and it’s just like this place,” noted Earnhardt. “The surface is slick and worn out, the configuration, shape, banking … everything is so similar to Myrtle Beach. When I first came here, I said that if there was a track that I’ve got to know how to get around, it’s Richmond. I knew I should be good here.

“I’ve won a handful of races here in both the Xfinity Series and the Cup Series, and I can roll around that bottom (lane) all night long,” Earnhardt added. “We just didn’t have the car right there to do what we needed and I didn’t do the job I needed to, either. But I love managing equipment here … I love that strategy and understanding what it takes to do that.”

Earnhardt confirmed afterwards that plans are in the works for him to run one more Xfinity Series race next season, though he doesn’t know what venue it will be at just yet.

“We’ll try and do another one next year. It’ll be with Hellmann’s again and I’m looking forward to figuring out what race that’s gonna be,” said Earnhardt.

“I run these races to help sponsor the rest of these (JR Motorsports) cars. It’s hard to put together full deals, and when I run a race it’ll help sponsor that (No.) 7 car for eight to 10 races next year,” Earnhardt explained. “It’s worth it for me to get out there, have a little fun and run a race that fills out the rest of the slate for one of my guys … and so we can control our bottom line.”

Throughout the day, there were smiles abound and there was bubbly energy from the full-time driver-turned NBC Sports television analyst. His daughter, Isla Rose, was on pit road with him before the race and he turned in a stellar on-track performance that left his fans cheering loudly.

Earnhardt admitted that he didn’t know where all his enthusiasm came from, but he wasn’t complaining about it, either.

“I’m just so happy. I can’t really explain why,” he grinned. “This was a pretty cool deal.”