Dale Earnhardt Jr. praises CARS Tour team after a night of “a lot of hard, hard racing”

Former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently expressed his appreciation for the CARS Tour team following an eventful race at ACE Speedway. Earnhardt Jr. co-owns the grassroots series with NASCAR veteran, Kevin Harvick.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his Xfinity Series debut in 1996, becoming a full-time competitor a few years later and capturing back-to-back championships in 1998 and 1999. Although he achieved 26 race wins in NASCAR's top division, he fell short of matching the legacy of his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., who claimed the Cup Series championship seven times.

On Friday, the zMAX CARS Tour returned to North Carolina for the AcceleratedGFX.com 285 at Ace Speedway. The 0.4-mile track is a staple in the Late Model and Pro Late Model Series. Thanking the CARS Tour team after an action-packed race at Ace Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. wrote on X(formerly Twitter):

"What an entertaining @CARSTour race tonight. A lot of hard hard racing. These teams and drivers gave it everything they had. The owners text messaging was fired up tonight. Very proud."

Dale Jr. further extended his thanks by responding to a fan on X. He wrote:

"Our @CARSTour team of employees work hard everyday to give these teams and drivers a platform to showcase their talents. The summer stretch is tough on everyone. Great effort across the board."

Ryan Millington and Brenden "Butterbean" Queen provided the fans with an exciting, hard-fought battle for the majority of the race until Queen bumped the #15 car with 10 laps to go, leading to a caution. The final 10 laps of the race saw multiple changes in race leaders, caution flags, and on-track incidents.

Brent Crews navigated through all the chaos and drove down victory lane at ACE Speedway after taking the lead with 3 laps to go. He was followed by Mini Tyrell, and Caden Kvapil, completing the top three.

---

"I will be surprised" - Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up on Austin Dillon's penalty amid Richmond controversy

RCR's Austin Dillon drove down victory lane at Richmond Raceway after a controversial move on Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin. Dillon wrecked the #22 car and door-slammed Hamlin right before the finish line.

Dale Eanrhardt Jr. believes that Dillon will not be penalized for his actions at Richmond. In a recent episode of the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast, he claimed:

“Honestly, I would be surprised if Austin gets penalized for anything even though absolutely you could say he right-hooked the 11, there’s other instances with right hooks, that should be same for Austin,” Earnhardt Jr. said (28:45)

However, Austin Dillon was sanctioned a penalty by NASCAR earlier this week. While Dillon's win at Richmond will remain intact, his playoff eligibility has been taken away. Moreover, the #3 team had 25 points deducted from team and owner points.