---
title: "Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Make One-Off NASCAR Return at Darlington Xfinity Race"
description: "NASCAR's most popular last name is coming out of retirement for the throwback race."
date: "2019-02-04"
modified: "2019-02-04"
authors:
  - name: "Amanda Vincent"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/amanda-vincent"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/26301/dale-earnhardt-jr-to-make-one-off-nascar-return-at-darlington-xfinity-race"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Dale Earnhardt Jr"
  - "Darlington Raceway"
  - "Xfinity Series"
---

# Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Make One-Off NASCAR Return at Darlington Xfinity Race

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/07/gettyimages-814884062.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Dale Earnhardt Jr. plans to come out of retirement to drive in at least one NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 2019. He confirmed via Twitter on Friday, when responding to a fan question, that he’d compete in the Xfinity Series round at [Darlington Raceway](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/23327/brad-keselowski-leads-team-penske-one-two-nascar-finish-at-darlington>) on Aug. 31.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1091348773735944198

The tweet was a response to a fan question after Joe Gibbs Racing revealed one of Martin Truex Jr.’s 2019 Cup Series liveries.

[Earnhardt Jr.](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/25436/dale-earnhardt-jr-will-pace-the-2019-daytona-500-in-a-chevrolet-silverado>) retired from full-time competition in the Cup Series at the end of the 2017 season, but he continues as a car owner in the Xfinity Series, in addition to his role as broadcaster for NASCAR races on *NBC* and the *NBC Sports Network*. He told [*NBC Sports*](<https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2019/02/01/dale-earnhardt-jr-to-compete-in-xfinity-race-at-darlington-raceway/>) he was "running it because of the throwback campaign they started there. I want to be part of it. I think it’s important.”

Darlington’s annual NASCAR weekend has had a retro theme the last handful of years for which competing teams dress their cars in old-school schemes and some even wear throwback uniforms. Earnhardt Jr. is a self-proclaimed stock car racing history buff and even hosted a NASCAR show called “Back in the Day” on the now-defunct *Speed Channel*.

![Dale Jr. back in Xfinity](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/message-editor/1549207303460-357895.jpg>)
*Dale Jr. back in Xfinity*

*, Dale Earnhardt Jr. came out of retirement to compete in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Richmond Raceway on Sept. 21, 2018., *Getty Images for NASCAR**

[Earnhardt Jr.](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/24656/nascar-royalty-dale-earnhardt-jr-tweets-in-approval-of-justin-biebers-fashion>) competed in one Xfinity Series race last season, at [Richmond Raceway](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/23602/dale-earnhardt-jr-comes-out-of-retirement-for-one-race-at-richmond-raceway>) in Virginia. In a car fielded by his JR Motorsports team, he finished fourth after leading 96 laps, the most of any driver in the race. He is a two-time champion of the Xfinity Series, winning titles in 1998 and 1999, his only two full-time seasons in the series. He continued to race part-time in the Xfinity Series throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career. In all, he has 24 wins in 140 Xfinity Series races.

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