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TIMMONSVILLE, S.C. — For a moment in time at Florence Motor Speedway, NASCAR fans were thrust back into the mid-2000s with the return of one of the sport‘s most recognizable schemes.
Among the 41-car field for the South Carolina 400 was the iconic No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet that NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. popularized during the early years of his career. Accompanying Earnhardt Jr. at Florence was his devoted fanbase that enveloped the grandstands with a sea of red once commonplace at NASCAR races around the country.
Earnhardt Jr. could not help but get immersed in the atmosphere generated by the Budweiser No. 8’s first race since 2007. The tribute nearly ended with Earnhardt Jr. taking the beloved scheme to Victory Lane, but he found satisfaction in what the weekend meant to himself and those who have been invested in his storied career.
“I felt great about the car,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Picked them off as I could. The car was excellent and a lot of guys were starting to struggle with the balance of their car. For the second half, we were going to sit there in second. When it was time to start pressuring (leader Treyten Lapcevich), I could probably get him loose, drive off the corner and beat him.
“It was about time to turn it on and then the fuel pump broke.”
A 40th-place starting position did little to stymie Earnhardt Jr., who carved through the field with relative ease to nestle himself into the second position at the halfway break, all while being cheered on by his exuberant fans. Earnhardt Jr. stayed in second the rest of the evening until a broken fuel pump knocked him out of the race with 31 laps remaining.
The final showing of 28th was not the outcome most members of Junior Nation had anticipated, yet the South Carolina 400 proved to be more about the journey for Earnhardt Jr.‘s followers instead of the destination.
Although Earnhardt Jr. spent more time in a Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet during his Cup Series tenure, the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc. is where he first built his identity.
During his eight full-time years with DEI, Earnhardt Jr. amassed 17 victories, 76 top fives and led over 5,000 laps. The most notable of Earnhardt Jr.‘s accomplishments in the Budweiser No. 8 Chevrolet was his first of two Daytona 500 victories in 2004.
BACK IN BUD: Photos of Dale Jr. at Florence
Earnhardt Jr. parted ways with DEI at the end of the 2007 season, but the memories of his success in the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet never faded. Nearly two decades on from Earnhardt Jr.‘s final outing with DEI and NASCAR events are still filled with spectators who adorn the iconic No. 8.
One of those fans is David Faulkner, who traveled five hours from Hampton, Virginia, to see the Budweiser No. 8 for at least one final time. A lifelong follower of the Earnhardt family since the 1970s, Faulkner admitted seeing Earnhardt Jr. pilot a red No. 8 again evoked memories of the victories he got to witness in person.
“I remember the wins at Richmond, because Richmond is my home track about an hour away [from Hampton],” Faulkner said. “Just watching the Budweiser car running around brings back a lot of memories.”
Many stories like Faulkner‘s awaited Earnhardt Jr. as he greeted fans throughout the afternoon at Florence. One woman Earnhardt Jr. interacted with had been waiting to obtain his autograph since the Budweiser No. 8 made its formal Cup Series debut during the 1999 Coca-Cola 600.
The impact of Earnhardt Jr. on NASCAR extends far beyond spectators. Since returning to his Late Model Stock origins in 2022, Earnhardt Jr. has been approached by countless competitors young and old, with every conversation providing Earnhardt Jr. a healthy perspective into how he has shaped the world around him.
“I qualified really bad and I was pretty mad at myself,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I got done, pulled around and one of the other drivers [Gary Greenwood] who qualified poorly got out and said, ‘Keep your head up. I am racing because of you. I lost my dad and listening to your podcast has really helped me. That’s why I got this car.’
“I was so upset with qualifying, but sometimes it‘s good to be reminded that it‘s not that important.”
For Dylan Braswell, who ventured to Florence from the small town of Nashville, North Carolina, he never witnessed Earnhardt Jr. pilot the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet but had long been familiar with the Earnhardts and NASCAR through his late grandmother Dianne.
The two got to see Earnhardt Jr.‘s final Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2017 a couple of months before Dianne passed away. Braswell saw his trip to the South Carolina 400 to honor Dianne‘s love for racing and to get a firsthand account as to why the No. 8 was so special to so many people.
“My grandmother got me into NASCAR and she was always big into Earnhardt Jr.,” Braswell said. “I got to watch the VCR tapes and all that stuff back in the day, so that‘s kind of where the No. 8 car is for me, watching it on TV.
“I bought tickets instantly as soon as I heard.”
Braswell and the rest of Earnhardt Jr.‘s fanbase colloquially known as Junior Nation were treated to a thrilling performance from their favorite driver as he battled to make his own history in the South Carolina 400.
Up until a few months ago, not many in the NASCAR industry would have expected to see Earnhardt Jr. bring back the scheme that kickstarted his career for any reason. Circumstances brought the Budweiser No. 8 back to life, an opportunity not many Earnhardt Jr. fans were willing to pass up as evidenced by the South Carolina 400‘s sold-out crowd.
Saturday was perfect for people like Faulkner, as it allowed him and others to reflect on pleasant memories and cherish seeing part of the past being reborn into the present day.
“I‘ve been waiting on this since I saw a little hint back in April when [Earnhardt Jr.] threw a bunch of Budweiser stuff on the Internet,” Faulkner said. “I thought he was going to bring the Budweiser car back and now I‘m here.
“It‘s iconic.”
RELATED: Dale Jr. through the years
Other than the broken fuel pump and poor qualifying effort, Earnhardt Jr. got everything he wanted by bringing the Budweiser No. 8 Chevrolet to the South Carolina 400. The purpose of the initiative was to give back to the fans, many of whom descended upon Florence to see what Earnhardt Jr. could do in his iconic scheme.
The performance Earnhardt Jr. put together on Saturday gave him a much-needed jolt ahead of four planned Late Model Stock starts in 2025. While he is unsure of when that Budweiser scheme will next see the track, Earnhardt Jr. intends to bring it back before inevitably deciding to retire from racing altogether.
“At some point, you‘re going to age out,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I don‘t know why that happens or how it happens, but I don‘t know when that happens. Maybe I got another three, four, five years left. If I have anything to do with it, they will see that Bud car again.”
Whenever or wherever Earnhardt Jr. unloads the Budweiser No. 8 next, the grandstands will be red and black, filled with loyal spectators eager to see if the famous car will find its way to Victory Lane just like it did back in the 2000s.
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