Dale Earnhardt Jr. will run at least one NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 2021, as Unilever announced an extension of its sponsorship of JR Motorsports Oct. 27 that includes the stipulation that it’ll sponsor Earnhardt in one race.
It will mark the fourth straight season in which Earnhardt will drive in one event for his self-owned team in the series following his retirement from full-time competition after 2017. Each year, he has finished in the top five in his starts, coming at Richmond Raceway, Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, with his best finish a fourth at Richmond in 2018.
Though a car number wasn’t specified, it’s likely Earnhardt will drive the team’s No. 8, which so far has announced Josh Berry and Sam Mayer as its drivers for 2021. It’s also unknown which race Earnhardt will run, though he’s competed at a different track every year since moving into semi-retirement.
In all, Unilever will sponsor JRM for seven races in 2021.
“My partnership with Unilever has grown so much over the years, and I’m proud to say they’ve been a huge part of what we’ve built at JRM,” Earnhardt said in a release. “Unilever’s commitment to our team and the series has been unwavering, and we’re prepared to take that success even further.”
About the author
Rutherford is the managing editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2015 after serving on the editing staff for two years. At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
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Does anyone wonder like I do why does Dale Jr. come back and do one race? The reason he retired in the first place was to be able to have a quality life with his family. He said his terrible his concussion systems were that he had to ride in a car with his head down looking at the floor. He could barely stand up and other symptoms. Why then risk having all that happen again or maybe worse to do one race? I think someone close to Jr. needs to set him down and ask him is the risk is worth the reward? Please don’t miss understand me because I want nothing bad to happen to Dale Jr. , but if something should happen we should not feel sorry for him. I hope he doesn’t tempt fate one to many times , just to have a team sponsor.