{"id":48129,"date":"2024-09-20T16:30:38","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T21:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=48129"},"modified":"2024-09-22T05:34:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T10:34:17","slug":"nascar-saturday-bristol-notebook-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/20\/nascar-saturday-bristol-notebook-5\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Saturday Bristol Notebook \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

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

Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn\u2019t ready to hang up the driving shoes just yet<\/b><\/p>\n

BRISTOL, Tenn.\u2014Speculation about Dale Earnhardt Jr.\u2019s swan song at Bristol Motor Speedway seems to have been exaggerated.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 20, 2024 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Earnhardt\u2019s appearance in Friday night’s Food City 300 had been rumored to be his last national series race, but Earnhardt said before the NASCAR Xfinity Series event that he wouldn\u2019t rule out racing in the future\u2014even if he stays on the sidelines until 2026.<\/p>\n

The NASCAR Hall of Famer, who turns 50 on Oct. 10, said Friday he has no plans to race on a national level next year, but that doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019ll stay off the track for good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not planning on racing next year,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cI\u2019ll be foolish to say I\u2019m never going to run again, because I don\u2019t know well enough to stay away from it, and I\u2019ll probably miss it next year and be absolutely willing to sign up for any thing that might be beneficial to JR Motorsports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earnhardt pointed out that his decisions to drive have been influenced heavily by his responsibilities as an Xfinity team owner. In 2025, however, he doesn\u2019t have any sponsor demands to race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a requirement to run next year, so I may just not do it,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cI will miss it terribly, regret that I didn\u2019t race and probably in 2026 find me somewhere I can go compete in the Xfinity Series again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether he races or not, Earnhardt\u2019s expectations and perspectives have changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I just run all the laps, I\u2019m happy,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cI don\u2019t really look at results as much anymore. I\u2019m happy about a great result, for sure. But when you only get to go to the ice cream store once a year, you want to eat the whole thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I want to run all the laps and see the checkered flag, and I\u2019ll be happy about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie switch rides in rare mid-season \u201ctrade\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Shades of John Andretti-for-Jeremy Mayfield. That 1996 in-season driver trade now has a rival.<\/p>\n

Spire Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing announced on Friday that Justin Haley would leave Rick Ware after Saturday\u2019s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway to finish the season with Spire.<\/p>\n

In the same time frame, Corey LaJoie will move from the No. 7 Spire Chevrolet to the No. 51 RWR Ford Haley has been driving this season.<\/p>\n

In Haley\u2019s case, the move represents a return to Spire as part of a longer-term relationship. Spire owner Jeff Dickerson confirmed Haley will drive for the organization in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustin came to us over the Olympic break with a longer-term opportunity that would serve his career well,\u201d said Robby Benton, RWR president. \u201cWe were sympathetic to his desires, as Justin committed to RWR early last year and has since played a key role in the growth of our organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to compromise his growth or our own. In our talks with Justin following the break, we agreed to release him from his contract with RWR.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haley drove for Spire from 2019-2021 before moving to Kaulig Racing in 2022. In his third start with Spire in 2019, Haley gave the organization its only Cup victory in a rain-shortened race at Daytona.<\/p>\n

LaJoie\u2019s transition to RWR is more of an audition, with no guarantee beyond the final seven races of the current season. But it does give LaJoie an opportunity to stay in the Cup Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me and my family, this is the best thing for my career,\u201d LaJoie said. \u201cNow, it\u2019s a fresh start with fresh faces and a new process to jump into. You feel as though all the work you do is going to progress to another level.\u201d<\/p>\n

The driver swap is reminiscent of the trade between team owners Michael Kranefuss and Cale Yarborough after 23 races of the 1996 season. Andretti went to Yarborough, while Mayfield completed the 1996 season in Kranefuss\u2019 No. 37 Ford.<\/p>\n

The Spire\/Rick Ware deal is more unusual in that it involves two different manufacturers, Chevrolet and Ford.<\/p>\n

Despite charter uncertainty, Bubba Wallace gets extension from 23XI<\/b><\/p>\n

With 23XI Racing remaining one of two teams yet to sign NASCAR\u2019s new charter agreement, Bubba Wallace expressed concerns about his future as a NASCAR Cup Series driver.<\/p>\n

Those issues were laid to rest this week when Wallace signed a multiyear contract extension with the organization, announced by 23XI in a social media post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Though Wallace failed to make the Playoffs this season, while teammate Tyler Reddick won the regular-season championship, Hamlin gave Wallace a vote of confidence before NASCAR Cup Series practice on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 23 team needs to make the Playoffs every year,\u201d Hamlin said of Wallace\u2019s Cup effort. \u201cI think that is our expectation, and then make a deep run and finish in the top 10 in points. That is kind of our expectation of kind of where we are at. Just getting in, it is hard for me to say that is the only expectation, but it is an expectation given the standards we are giving ourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows that he needs to get better. I think he has gotten better, so as long as he continues that … We know that, given the stats he has had, the laps that he has led\u2014everything has improved over what he had last year. Just have to take the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin has more pressing concerns this weekend. He\u2019s six points below the current cut line for the Playoffs\u2019 Round of 12, facing elimination in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m coming here to win,\u201d said Hamlin, who has earned victories in the last two Bristol races. \u201cThat strategy won\u2019t change unless the situation changes during the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Note:<\/b> Two other signings made news this week. AM Racing announced Friday that Harrison Burton will drive for the organization in the NASCAR Xfinity Series next season after his contract with Wood Brothers Racing\u2019s NASCAR Cup team runs its course this year … NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff driver Nick Sanchez will succeed Parker Kligerman in the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn\u2019t ready to hang up the driving shoes just yet BRISTOL, Tenn.\u2014Speculation about Dale Earnhardt Jr.\u2019s swan song at Bristol Motor Speedway seems to have been exaggerated. Earnhardt\u2019s appearance in Friday night’s Food City 300 had been rumored to be his last national series race, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":48131,"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":[177,16],"class_list":["post-48129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-bristol-motor-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/GettyImages-2173448681-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-cwh","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48129","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\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48129"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48132,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48129\/revisions\/48132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}