Video: Dale Jr. gets coolest gift yet at Talladega

October 13, 2017 Greg Engle Main Page, NASCAR News Top Story, Top Stories 0

Ever since NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his retirement from full time racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, he’s been receiving gifts from each of the tracks.

Friday, Talladega Superspeedway officials and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame along with the state of Alabama, gave Earnhardt Jr. possession of the 1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo his father drove to the Rookie of the Year title that year. He also got to take a few laps.

Simply giving Earnhardt Jr. the car wasn’t enough; he was allowed to take a few laps with it on the 2.66-mile Superspeedway.

“That was great,” Earnhardt said. “The state of Alabama owns this car. They are going to let us take it to Mooresville, North Carolina and show it off in our shop, so it is going to be great for the guys. I got to take it for a couple of laps. That was fun. Drove it through the garage so all the guys on the team can see it. Pretty neat trying to imagine what it would be like running one of those around here at 180/190 mph.

The legendry Dale Earnhardt Sr. won the first of his seven Cup titles in 1980 while racing for team owner Rod Osterlund. MORE>>>

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About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.