Race 27 of 33: GoBowling 250 at Richmond Raceway
Track Specs: .75-mile D-shaped oval / 250 laps
Weather: Cloudy, 64 degrees
Race Winner: Christopher Bell
Earnhardt Jr.'s Finish: 4th
Dale Earnhardt Jr. made quite a splash with the No. 88 Hellmann’s team in his highly-anticipated return to NASCAR Xfinity Series competition during Friday night’s GoBowling 250 at Richmond Raceway. He led a race high 96 laps and secured a stage win en route to a fourth-place finish. The effort affords Earnhardt Jr. a sixth top-five effort in eight series starts at the Virginia short track and gives him 829 total laps led at Richmond, a career best for the driver at a single track.
From the outset of the weekend it was clear Earnhardt Jr. had shaken off any rust that remained from an almost year-long hiatus from the cockpit. He hustled into a second-place qualifying spot to start the day and fired off with one of the field’s most competitive cars.
Early in the opening stage, Earnhardt Jr. diagnosed a bit of a loose condition on throttle, but complimented the cars ability to roll and carry speed through the center of the corner. He maintained second place and engaged in a spirited duel with teammate Justin Allgaier for the top spot before settling back in behind the leader. The No. 88 briefly drifted back to fourth and then found third place for the conclusion of Stage One.
Following a pit stop for the usual four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment, Earnhardt Jr. took the Stage Two restart with the Hellmann’s machine shown in third. At the 100-lap mark, with the No. 88 shown in second, Earnhardt Jr. commented to crew chief Mike Bumgarner the car was “too loose to run any harder”. But by lap 124, Earnhardt Jr. muscled by leader Christopher Bell. Out front he set sail, leading the next 29 laps and taking the victory in Stage Two.
Following the team’s second pit stop, Earnhardt Jr. would hold serve from the top spot for final stage’s restart. Again, he stretched out a sizable gap between himself and second place. Earnhardt Jr. maintained a firm grip on the lead over the next 67 laps until a caution on lap 220 shuffled the field. He rolled down pit road under the yellow flag to the attention of the crew for four tires and fuel. Then lined up for the ensuing restart on the outside of the front row in second place.
Once back to green flag racing, Earnhardt Jr. reported the tires didn’t feel right and that the car felt “out of the track”. With a car that had turned into a handful on this set of tires, the Hellmann’s machine dropped as low as fifth. But Earnhardt Jr. gained one final spot to close out a highly-competitive run in fourth place.
Christopher Bell won the race. Ross Chastain, Daniel Hemric, Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Tift rounded out the night’s top-five finishers.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver No. 88 Hellmann’s team
“We didn’t have the car at the end. Restarting on the outside was kind of tough. Just didn’t have what we needed right there. I’m glad we got to led a lot of laps and we ran real good for Hellmann’s and all the people that came out to watch us. We had fun. 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.”