Jeffrey Earnhardt drives No. 3 to Xfinity pole, near victory for Richard Childress Racing.
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Dale Earnhardt Sr. won 10 times at NASCAR’s biggest track. His son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., scored six wins there. No other speedway was as productive for either of the Earnhardts.
Earnhardt success made the Talladega grandstands rock for many years. Father and won became two of the most popular drivers ever to compete on the 2.66-mile track.
Jeffrey Earnhardt brought back a little Earnhardt magic to NASCAR with a near win in the Xfinity Seris.
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So it was with more than the normal amount of attention that another Earnhardt—Jeffrey, grandson of Dale Sr. and son of former driver Kerry Earnhardt—rolled onto the Talladega asphalt as part of a sun-splashed weekend in Alabama. Adding to the notice was the fact that Jeffrey drove a black No. 3 Chevrolet entered by Richard Childress Racing, the same combination his grandfather rode to championships and into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
As if it was to be expected, Earnhardt, 32, put the No. 3 on the pole for Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 Xfinity Series race, lighting a fire under Earnhardt fans and bringing back some vivid memories for team owner Richard Childress and all those who had helped make the No. 3 famous.
Earnhardt called his ride in the No. 3 and his pole run “a dream of mine for years.”
Earnhardt raced within a few feet of a bigger dream in Saturday’s race, mounting a familiar Earnhardt charge late in the race before finishing .131 of a second behind winner Noah Gragson. Ironically, Gragson drove a Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The finish was the best of Jeffrey Earnhardt’s Xfinity Series career. He has raced sporadically in all three major NASCAR series without a victory.
Fox Sports analyst Larry McReynolds served as Earnhardt’s crew chief, repeating the job he performed with Dale Sr.
“We just fell a little short there, but congrats to Noah. He’s good at plate races,” Jeffrey Earnhardt said.
Adding even more Earnhardt flavor to the weekend was the appearance of Dale Earnhardt Jr. as an analyst on the Fox Sports broadcast of Sunday’s Geico 500 Cup race as the latest example of cooperation between Fox and NBC Sports. Junior is a regular on NBC’s NASCAR coverage.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – 31st Annual Ag-Pro 300
Talladega Superspeedway
Saturday, April 23, 2022
1. (19) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 124.
2. (1) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 124.
3. (13) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 124.
4. (10) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 124.
5. (6) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 124.
6. (12) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 124.
7. (20) Riley Herbst, Ford, 124.
8. (24) Joe Graf Jr, Ford, 124.
9. (31) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 124.
10. (18) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 124.
11. (16) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 124.
12. (21) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 124.
13. (9) Drew Dollar, Toyota, 124.
14. (32) Shane Lee, Ford, 124.
15. (22) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 124.
16. (36) Joey Gase, Ford, 124.
17. (29) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 124.
18. (37) Kyle Sieg #, Ford, 124.
19. (26) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 124.
20. (7) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 124.
21. (33) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 123.
22. (11) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Fuel Pressure, 122.
23. (34) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 122.
24. (4) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, Accident, 113.
25. (23) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, Accident, 113.
26. (15) Brandon Jones, Toyota, DVP, 110.
27. (2) Austin Hill #, Chevrolet, Accident, 110.
28. (14) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 109.
29. (8) Kaz Grala(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 103.
30. (17) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 103.
31. (27) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, Accident, 96.
32. (38) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, DVP, 84.
33. (35) David Starr, Ford, DVP, 83.
34. (5) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, DVP, 79.
35. (3) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, Accident, 76.
36. (28) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, DVP, 51.
37. (25) Mason Massey, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.
38. (30) Chandler Smith(i), Toyota, Accident, 47.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 123.024 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 40 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.131 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 10 for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 25 among 14 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Earnhardt 0;T. Gibbs 1-4;J. Earnhardt 5-14;A. Hill # 15-18;A. Allmendinger 19;S. Creed # 20;A. Hill # 21-22;J. Berry 23-27;A. Alfredo 28-29;B. Brown 30;J. Yeley 31-32;S. Mayer 33;N. Gragson 34-37;A. Alfredo 38;A. Hill # 39-44;S. Mayer 45;J. Allgaier 46-50;D. Dollar 51;A. Hill # 52-68;D. Starr 69;T. Gibbs 70;A. Hill # 71-108;J. Allgaier 109-113;A. Allmendinger 114-118;J. Allgaier 119-121;N. Gragson 122-124.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Hill # 5 times for 67 laps; Justin Allgaier 3 times for 13 laps; Jeffrey Earnhardt 1 time for 10 laps; Noah Gragson 2 times for 7 laps; AJ Allmendinger 2 times for 6 laps; Ty Gibbs 2 times for 5 laps; Josh Berry 1 time for 5 laps; Anthony Alfredo 2 times for 3 laps; JJ Yeley 1 time for 2 laps; Sam Mayer 2 times for 2 laps; David Starr 1 time for 1 lap; Drew Dollar 1 time for 1 lap; Sheldon Creed # 1 time for 1 lap; Brandon Brown 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 8,54,16,10,21,7,9,23,1,02
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,1,21,19,54,18,68,3,31,27
Keyword: Just like Old Times: Big Weekend for an Earnhardt at Talladega