{"id":14247,"date":"2017-11-29T13:35:22","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T19:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=14247"},"modified":"2017-11-29T13:35:22","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T19:35:22","slug":"dale-earnhardt-jr-s-final-sendoff-has-a-noble-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/29\/dale-earnhardt-jr-s-final-sendoff-has-a-noble-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Dale Earnhardt Jr.\u2019s final sendoff has a noble purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS \u2013 Tony Stewart<\/strong> had some sage advice for Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/strong>, as NASCAR\u2019s most popular driver faced his first season of retirement from full-time driving in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. talk on stage during Appreci88ion, An Evening With Dale Earnhardt Jr. Presented By Nationwide at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on November 28, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cStewart told me that first year\u2019s a weird one,\u201d Earnhardt said on Tuesday night before a gala at the Cosmopolitan simultaneously celebrating his career and his partnership with Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m starting to understand a little bit of what he meant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earnhardt won\u2019t be away from the race track, though. He\u2019ll be highly visible as the co-owner of his four-car JR Motorsports NASCAR XFINITY Series team and in his new role as a broadcaster for NBC Sports. For Earnhardt, that\u2019s the saving grace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s felt weird, to be honest with you,\u201d said Earnhardt, who made his last run in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. \u201cBeing finished with the season and knowing that you\u2019re not going to go back and start another one is a weird feeling. Being away from the sport is so weird.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks on stage during Appreci88ion, An Evening With Dale Earnhardt Jr. Presented By Nationwide at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on November 28, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cJust being home for Thanksgiving is a very odd feeling and not a comfortable feeling at all. I\u2019m always going to want to be at the track, and always want to be around the sport and involved in the competition somehow, some way. If I ever thought I was just going to quit cold turkey, I must have been kidding myself, because just being away for a couple days, it\u2019s difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday night brought finality. It was the last event in the year-long \u201cAppreciati88ion\u201d tour celebrating Earnhardt\u2019s contribution to the sport, with proceeds from the night benefiting the Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

Earnhardt and long-time brand manager Mike Davis emceed the show themselves, with Davis introducing a parade of surprise guests who shared stories about the driver in a \u201cThis is Your Life\u201d sort of format.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks with Jimmie Johnson during Appreci88ion, An Evening With Dale Earnhardt Jr. Presented By Nationwide at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on November 28, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Seven-time champion and Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson took credit for getting Earnhardt to don Spandex and begin a regimen of bike riding, as well as for convincing him to start using Twitter.<\/p>\n

NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton recalled the first time he summoned Earnhardt and crew chief Tony Eury Sr. to the sanctioning body\u2019s hauler for the first time, after Earnhardt\u2019s mouthing off on the radio at Bristol crossed the line.<\/p>\n

Newly crowned Monster Energy Series champion Martin Truex Jr. made an appearance, along with \u201cDirty Mo Posse\u201d members T.J. Majors (Earnhardt\u2019s long-time spotter), Shawn Brawley (Truex\u2019s former roommate at Dirty Mo Acres) and Josh Snider (Truex\u2019s first public relations representative).<\/p>\n

Both Eurys were there\u2014Tony Sr. and Tony Jr.\u2014as well as drag racer Brandon Bernstein, who showed Earnhardt the ropes when he signed with sponsor Budweiser.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Charles Barkley and Dale Earnhardt Jr. talk on stage during Appreci88ion, An Evening With Dale Earnhardt Jr. Presented By Nationwide at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on November 28, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Dale Jarrett, whom Earnhardt credits with providing emotional support after the death of his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., in the 2001 Daytona 500, joined former crew chief and fellow NBC broadcaster Steve Letarte on stage.<\/p>\n

The program concluded with an appearance by former NBA star Charles Barkley who also provided retirement advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to find something to do,\u201d Barkley said over and over again.<\/p>\n

For Earnhardt, that shouldn\u2019t be a problem.<\/p>\n

In addition to his presence at the race track, Earnhardt is heavily involved in charitable work. Tuesday also marked the launch of the Dale and Amy Earnhardt Fund for pediatric injury rehabilitation, funded by a gift of $88,888.88 from the driver and his wife.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dale Earnhardt Jr.and his wife Amy talk on stage during Appreci88ion, An Evening With Dale Earnhardt Jr. Presented By Nationwide at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on November 28, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Earnhardt has made regular visits to the Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and has taken both wife Amy and members of the No. 88 race team to the facility. Now that the Earnhardts are expecting their first child in May, the mission of the hospital has even greater meaning to the couple.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I think it does, especially some of the situations that the children and the parents are in,\u201d said Earnhardt. \u201cThey\u2019re clinging to the last hope, and obviously, the hospital\u2019s been able to save a lot of kids lives there that are born prematurely, and so forth\u2014saving lives that they wouldn\u2019t even have a chance of saving 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast time we went with the race team, we met some parents with a child that was born 20 weeks, I believe, premature, and we were in the hospital with the parents in the unit with the child on its birthday, on the day it was supposed to be born. And they had in front of them a healthy child. They could hardly get two words out without crying over their joy of having the opportunity to have that care, and that their child\u2019s life was saved, and they\u2019re going to take home a healthy baby.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. during Appreci88ion, An Evening With Dale Earnhardt Jr. Presented By Nationwide at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on November 28, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThose experiences you have really lock you in.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing Earnhardt won\u2019t be using to fill his time is an appearance on \u201cDancing with the Stars,\u201d which reportedly has been trying to enlist the driver for the television series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s never going to happen, I promise you,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing in this world that would get me out on their dance floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

What if Nationwide offered another gift to the fund?<\/p>\n

\u201cI would match it just to be able to stay off the dance floor,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cI\u2019d be willing to do a lot of things. That\u2019s not one of ’em.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS \u2013 Tony Stewart had some sage advice for Dale Earnhardt Jr., as NASCAR\u2019s most popular driver faced his first season of retirement from full-time driving in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. \u201cStewart told me that first year\u2019s a weird one,\u201d Earnhardt said on Tuesday night before a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[167,16],"class_list":["post-14247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-dale-earnhardt-jr","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/MENCS_ChampsWeek_EarnhardtJr_Appreci88ion1_112817.jpg?fit=4488%2C2992&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-3HN","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14256,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247\/revisions\/14256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}