Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired from NASCAR following the 2017 season and has since been working as an analyst for NBC Sports. However, he is potentially considering a return to racing. Although there is a caveat that must be filled prior to him jumping behind the driver’s seat once again.
According to The Tennessean, Earnhardt would consider racing more if the sport returns to Nashville. He occasionally gets behind the wheel, averaging about one race a year. Although Earnhardt would reportedly increase that number if NASCAR brings back some of the races in Music City.
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“I think we belong in Nashville,” Earnhardt said. “I think we belong in Nashville racing cars. That’s more important than even having the banquet there. It’s a great place for us to be racing and we should be racing there.”
The retired driver will be in Nashville for Thursday’s NASCAR Cup Awards Banquet, which will be held at the Music City Center. However, Earnhardt believes that the city should have even more NASCAR action in the future.
“If they ever did run an (NASCAR) Xfinity race there and it’s in the next four or five years I’d love to put that on my calendar as a race to go run,” Earnhardt said. “Because that was a lot [of] fun when we used to race there in ’98 and ’99. I had more fun probably racing the late model there with [Joe] Buford and [Chad[ Chafin and all of those guys back in the day.”
In May, Speedway Motorsports proposed a $60 million renovation project at the Nashville Fairgrounds to then-Mayor David Briley and the Metro Board of Fair Commissioners. The purpose was to ultimately bring NASCAR back to the city. This proposal featured a 30,000-seat capacity structure, an expanded concourse, premium seats, pedestrian tunnels, and sound barriers.
The Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville was the host track for 42 NASCAR-sanctioned races from 1958-1984. This included two annual races from 1973-84. Dale Earnhardt Sr. actually began his racing career at the Fairgrounds, and he continued getting behind the wheel in Nashville into the 1980s.
Earnhardt Jr. is well aware of the history involved with the track, and he wants to see it return to greatness. He is reportedly paying close attention to the proposal, as well as the potential return of NASCAR.
“We certainly don’t want to see a track with so much history just become an afterthought,” Earnhardt said. “The great way to continue that tradition is to have truck races, Xfinity races, even Cup races at that racetrack one day and it put on an amazing show.”
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