While Earnhardt was unable to get to victory lane, Keselowski — his long-time protege and a former NASCAR XFINITY Series driver at JR Motorsports — was able to celebrate for the both of them at the end of the day.
The victory party was complete with a tribute paint scheme to the No. 88 NAVY Chevrolet that Keselowski piloted in the XFINITY Series and a ‘Cheers to Dale Jr.’ logo on the back decklid, something Earnhardt appreciated after the race.
“It was a real challenge out there today. These plate races get harder and harder to win, but congratulations to Brad,” Earnhardt smiled. “His race car there … it had that cheers to Dale Jr. on it, and that’s pretty cool. It was nice of him to do.”
“I was pulling for a lot of them out there if we couldn’t win it. There were a lot of friends (of mine) out there today.”
Earnhardt’s Talladega career record will end with six wins, 12 top-five finishes, 17 top-10 finishes, one pole, 967 laps led and an average finish of 15.4 in 35 starts, leading many to put him among the best-ever at the track, alongside his late father.
That as something that Earnhardt reflected on after the race, showing visible emotion and appreciation.
“Anytime anybody says you’re the best at anything, it’s an awesome feeling,” he said. “I can’t deny that it feels awesome to hear that. People consider you good at anything, it’s a great feeling. I knew that I wasn’t going to win 200 races and seven championships and do all those great things. I just wanted to come in here and be considered talented. To be great at anything was beyond my imagination.”
“I appreciate people’s compliments on my plate driving and the success we’ve had at all the plate races. It’s been a lot of fun.”
But just because he won’t be driving at Talladega anymore, don’t think that the Earnhardt name won’t still be around the high banks.
“I really do owe a lot to this track and the support that we have had here from the fans, owe a lot to them. You know, it just has been a very fun place. … Just so many good memories as a kid coming here, and that was back before hot passes and pit passes, garage passes. Man, you could run anywhere you wanted to go, and we were all over the place having fun and goofing off.”
“Obviously my career in Cup here, (with winning) four in a row … all those things mean a lot to me. I hope to always have a great connection here, and trust me when I say that whatever the track needs from me, anytime they want anything, I’ll be here to help promote and support this place no matter what the request is. They’ve done so much for me and I want to remain very close.”
In the end though, the fan support was evident all weekend for Earnhardt — win, lose or draw — and it was them he wished he could have won for as much as himself.
“I’m always disappointed when we don’t run well at tracks I know we should, but we did run well today,” Earnhardt said. “I know that everybody was probably a little disappointed there at the end (for us) to finish seventh. I know those folks were hoping we could put something together, and I know there’s a lot of folks came here, particularly to see this race because it’s my last one here.”
“I hate to leave slightly disappointed, but hopefully the fans enjoyed everything else they saw. I mean, we ran as hard as we could and did the best we could.”
And that’s all that anyone can ever really ask for at the unpredictable beast that is Talladega.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: editor@racechaseronline.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
Follow RCO on Twitter: @RaceChaserNews
