Dale Earnhardt Jr. on watching #NASCARThrowback: ‘A super good treat for me’

Dale Earnhardt Jr. likes watching replays of his races, particularly those he’s won. He has seen his 2004 Daytona 500 victory numerous times. He still relives his stunning victory in The Winston from his 2000 rookie season.

But none was quite like watching his Wednesday viewing of the stirring triumph in the July 2001 race at Daytona International Speedway, the first at the track since the death of his father on the last lap of the Daytona 500.

The race was shown on NBCSN as a “#NASCARThrowback viewing party” that encouraged an audience of fans, drivers and team members to tweet while watching. Within an hour of the green flag, the hashtag had become the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter in the United States and drew more than 400 tweets per minute as the checkered flag flew for Earnhardt’s No. 8 Chevrolet.

“It was pretty fun having that instant communication and discussion and dialogue with the social media platforms that we have today while you were watching that,” said Earnhardt, who has been voted by fans as NASCAR’s most popular driver for 13 consecutive years. “It felt like I was in a big room with everybody watching it together. That was great.  I thought it was a good experience and one that I hope that they continue to try. You know I love the old stuff and I think the fans enjoy those iconic races and moments in the sport. There are so many to choose from.”

Earnhardt said it was a last-minute decision for him to take in the race at home with fiancée Amy Reimann (who tweeted a photo of Earnhardt watching from a bar at his house.).

“I really didn’t plan on watching the race, but it just so happened that I was sitting in the house with nothing to do,” he said. “If they get the drivers that are involved in those events to sort of play along on social media, I think it adds to the experience for the people watching.  I think if you won the race, it’s certainly exciting to be a part of that experience.

Earnhardt said he had watched the July 2001 race several times (“I like to sort of refresh my memory of what went on.”) – once a few years ago with his NBC Sports analyst Steve Letarte, his former crew chief (who also watched the race with Earnhardt for an NBC feature last year).

“Me and (Letarte) were still working together, maybe one night at the house drinking beers I put it on and we watched it,” Earnhardt said. “He was joking with me about it as it was coming on last night that we were going to watch it again. I thought it was great. Like I say it was a super good treat for me. I was super humbled by how everybody plugged in.

“It’s great to be reminded about stuff like that.  That was a special night.  I’m glad that people think it’s cool.”

Tonight’s Xfinity race at Daytona: Start time, weather, TV/radio info and lineup

After enjoying last weekend off, the Xfinity Series returns to action tonight with the Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

It will be the 15th race of the 2016 season for the circuit and the 50th Xfinity race at one of NASCAR’s signature tracks.

Here’s all the info you need for today’s race.

(All times are Eastern)

START: Subway Franchisee and retired U.S. Air Force Sgt. Kelly Miller will give the command for drivers to start engines at 7:38 p.m. Green flag is set to wave at 7:50 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (250 miles) around the 2.5-mile oval.

PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Xfinity garage opens at noon. The driver/crew chief meeting is at 3:45 p.m. Driver introductions are at 7 p.m.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: Musician First Class David Kraftchak, vocalist of the U.S. Navy Band of the Southeast, will perform the anthem at 7:31 p.m.

TV/RADIO: NBCSN will broadcast the race with its coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN Countdown to Green airs at 7 p.m.). Motor Racing Network’s radio broadcast and at MRN.com will begin at 7 p.m. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the MRN broadcast.

FORECAST: The wunderground.com stie predicts a temperature of 82 degrees at race time with a 60 percent chance of rain.

LAST TIME: One day before he’d be involved in a horrific wreck in the Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup race, Austin Dillon won the Subway Firecracker 250 on July 4, 2015. Dillon led just nine of 104 laps. Elliott Sadler finished second, followed by Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahneand Benny Gordon. Brian Scott dominated the race, leading 84 laps but was involved in a 11-car race on Lap 97 and finished 23rd, three laps off the pace.

STARTING LINEUP:

Qualifying is set for Saturday afternoon.

Kyle Busch uninjured in crash at Daytona

Kyle Busch walked away after crashing nearly head-on into the Turn 2 wall with about 10 minutes left in Friday morning’s practice session at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch’s car, running in a pack with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, wiggled and then headed up toward the wall where it made heavy impact. He will go to a backup car.

“Your first instinct is to correct and the car automatically corrects, finally when it catches or it hit the apron and caught, it just turned back the other way, head-on into the fence,” Busch said after exiting the infield care center. “That was certainly a big hit. You’ve got to thank NASCAR for their safety advancements in the cars and the drivers equipment and things like that and, of course, the SAFER barrier. That could have been a heck of lot worse than it was.”

Goodyear reported that Busch had a cut tire.

KYLE BUSCH SURPRISES FAN WITH PHONE CALL

Kyle Busch and Dale Jarrett surprise a fan with a phone call asking him how he became such a big Kyle Busch fan.

NASCAR to honor Orlando shooting victims with special decal

NASCAR will honor the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting that killed 49 people, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

An #ORLANDOUNITED decal will be placed on the A-Post of all cars in the NASCAR Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The Xfinity Series races Friday night and the Sprint Cup Series races Saturday night.

NASCAR America: Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman on Daytona hopes

Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman talk about the Paralympic event, Coke Ride Along, and their hopes for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 on NBC.

DeWalt expands sponsorship with Joe Gibbs Racing

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Thursday that DeWalt will be the primary sponsor for 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup races next season for the No. 20 team for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Matt Kenseth‘s team needed sponsorship after Dollar General announced May 23 that it was not returning to the sport.

“I’m looking forward to getting the DeWalt colors back to victory lane,” Kenseth said at Daytona International Speedway.

Car owner Joe Gibbs was asked if this meant a contract extension for Kenseth. Gibbs said: “Our plan is Matt is going to retire here.”

DeWalt also announced that it has added four races as primary sponsor for Kenseth’s No. 20 team this year — Chicago, Dover, Kansas and Homestead. DeWalt will provide primary sponsorship for six Xfinity races this season with Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Gibbs said that the organization feels “pretty confident” about filling the remaining sponsorship gaps on Kenseth’s car for next season.

Kenseth enters Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 — which can be seen on NBC — with a win and is 10th in the season standings. DeWalt is Kenseth’s sponsor this weekend and also will be on Jones’ car for Friday’s Xfinity race on NBCSN.