Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Even though he no longer races on a full-time basis, no one in the sport of racing moves the needle like Dale Earnhardt Jr. To confirm that, the crowd reaction when he was introduced a couple of weekends ago for a rare NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the Bristol Motor Speedway was virtually deafening. Voted NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver on 15 occasions, his stardom was(and is) far reaching.
Even though the NASCAR Hall of Fame member does not race as much as he used to, he remains in the racing spotlight. Earnhardt is one of the sport’s top media personalities as an analyst on NBC/USA for their NASCAR coverage and as the host of the very popular Dale Jr. Download weekly podcast. He likely is still the most recognizable person in the racing industry even as only a part-time competitor.
On Tuesday night, Dale Jr. will lend his fame to dirt racing when he and his Dirty Mo Media crew make an appearance at the High Limit Sprint Car Series event at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth Clash will pay a hefty $50,000 to the winner.
The series co-founded by 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and his brother-in-law Brad Sweet who himself is a four-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series champion has contested eight events so far in 2023 largely conducting its races as midweek shows aired live by the FloRacing.com streaming service.
Larson currently leads the High Limit standings over Rico Abreu and Cory Eliason.
.@DaleJr 🤝🏼 Sprint Cars
Earnhardt and the @DirtyMoMedia gang are coming to experience the next High Limit Sprint Car Series event!
The $50,000-to-win Commonwealth Clash at @Lernerville on Tuesday, September 26 just got bigger.
Get your tickets on https://t.co/pv1zNi5OMg. 🎟️ pic.twitter.com/T5618lZPRx
— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) August 24, 2023
The plan for what will likely be a monster event is for a live offering of the Dale Jr. Download slated to take place at 5:00pm on Tuesday afternoon with hot laps set to begin around 6:15. The show which will feature only Sprint Cars looks to move along quickly with the hope of having everything wrapped up before 10:00pm.
There is sometimes debate over just how much having NASCAR personalities at dirt races helps those events. Anyone who has ever been in a pit area for a race in which Kyle Larson or Tony Stewart competes knows the answer to that. And as popular as those stars are, Earnhardt is even more so. His mere presence alone will cause some who otherwise would not have even considered attending to not only go to Lernerville but to buy a pit pass.
Earnhardt brought throngs of people to the track when he raced in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car event at the re-opened North Wilkesboro Speedway back in 2022. As if a series in which Kyle Larson is involved needs greater exposure and even though he won’t compete, there will be people paying attention to dirt racing just because Dale Jr. is there.
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