NASCAR to inspect Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s firesuit after catching fire at Bristol

Earnhardt was having a strong run in the Food City 300 until the incident. He led for 47 laps and appeared in line for a solid finish at the short track.

But once the NASCAR legend noticed the smoke, he pulled into pit road for assistance.

“We got a hole in my pants,” Earnhardt Jr. joked, showing off the suit. “Somehow the shift control caught on fire. Saw some smoke in the car. I smelt it, and I said, ‘I hope that’s not me,’ but that last lap, I saw a big fire ball down in the tunnel, in the car. I felt it, obviously. My uniform was burning up. I was like, I can’t keep going. I’ve got to stop. Usually when you stop, the fires get bigger. So I pulled over by the pit stall, and some of those guys are pretty alert, and they helped me out.

“I hate it. We were going to finish in the top ten, maybe top five. Had a shot at winning it, if the car was going to run good at the end. But trying not to mess nobody’s night up at the same time, it was hard. But I had fun.”

Hopefully, NASCAR can learn something after Earnhardt’s scary encounter on Friday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about nerves at Bristol

It’s kind of hard to imagine that a driver with 50 Cup Series and Xfinity Series wins under his belt would be nervous for a night race at Bristol. But Earnhardt explained why he felt some jitters heading into Friday night.

“More nervous than my very first qualifying attempt as a rookie at Charlotte. I’ve never had to experience going to a race and not being locked in. Everywhere I’ve been, all my life, I knew I was gonna race that day,” Earnhardt said.

“So, coming here, and, I know people are going to think I’m silly for it, but coming here and not having that locked in feeling, man, it’s not fun.”

Because of the in-car incident, Earnhardt ended Friday night with a DNF.