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Jeffrey Earnhardt, the grandson of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, secured his first career pole for Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Driving his grandfather’s No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard-Hass Racing for the first time, Earnhardt posted the fastest average speed of 182.560 in the final round of Xfinity Series qualifying on Friday at Talladega.
During the post-qualifying race interview, Earnhardt felt that it was a pretty amazing opportunity to drive Dale Earnhardt's iconic No. 3 car. Further, Dale Earnhardt’s grandson went on to say:
“It's huge. You know, I saw him. I could throw my heart beating in my ears. Sitting there waiting to make the first run. I thought it'd be a little bit better the second run. And it wasn't so, you know, just like I said, my grandpa’s, my hero.
"And to be able to compete in a car like his for the guy that he drove for, it's not in the cup series, but it's still a pretty amazing opportunity that I'm just speechless about. It's incredible what he accomplished in the black number three in our sport and what he meant to our what he meant to people, what he meant to fans.”
He continued:
“Like I said, he'll always be my superhero. I'm just trying to do the best I can to make him and their and our fans proud. And hopefully it's just a start to that and really give them something to cheer about tomorrow.”
Earlier this week, the Richard-Haas Racing team announced that Earnhardt would make his first start in the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet in Saturday's Xfinity race.
Jeffrey Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt’s grandson will look to win his first Xfinity Series race
With a career-best third-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2019, Earnhardt will look to win his first Xfinity Series race when the green-flag drops on Saturday at 4 p.m. EST.
Earnhardt’s grandson has made four Xfinity Series starts this season with 15 place finishes each at Daytona and Atlanta.
Earnhardt also has Larry McReynolds back as a crew chief for the first time since 2000. He also served as Dale Earnhardt’s crew chief for his only Daytona 500 victory, which came in 1998.
