Getty Jeffrey Earnhardt reacts to winning his first career Pole Award.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series trip to Talladega Superspeedway just took a special turn for racing fans. A member of the Earnhardt family has put the black No. 3 Chevrolet back in the pole position.
Jeffrey Earnhardt achieved this feat on April 22. He joined Richard Childress Racing for the first time, and he headed out onto the track early in the first round of qualifying. He posted one of the best times during his first lap and secured his spot in the final round of qualifying. Earnhardt then posted the fastest lap around the 2.66-mile Alabama track and captured the pole position for the AG-Pro 300. His teammate for the weekend, Austin Hill, secured a spot next to him on the front row.
“This is unbelievable. This has been a dream of mine for years.”
@JEarnhardt1 will lead the field to green tomorrow at Talladega in the No. 3 @RCRracing machine with crew chief @LarryMac28 on the box.
This moment was historic for the North Carolina native. Earnhardt had never won the pole position in his national NASCAR series career spanning more than 200 starts. In fact, Earnhardt’s only pole award dates back to the 2007 season when he made 13 starts in the K&N Pro East Series — now the ARCA Menards Series East — while driving the No. 1 for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
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“I knew our first lap was good,” Earnhardt told media members after capturing the pole position. “I knew, obviously, our teammates were going to be some of the guys we were going to have to beat, but the [No.] 54, he had some steam there in his first round as well. That second lap, everything felt good, felt smooth, and I felt like I hit my shift points right.”
Earnhardt added that Dale Earnhardt Sr. was “his hero” and explained what it meant to drive a black No. 3 for the same team owner. He acknowledged that this moment was incredible and that it left him speechless.
An Earnhardt Hasn’t Won the Pole in Several Years
GettyJeffrey Earnhardt put the black No. 3 back in the pole position.
The Xfinity Series trip to Talladega Superspeedway is historic considering that it has been several years since a member of the Earnhardt family has secured a spot on the pole. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the last to do so in a national series while driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
Earnhardt captured two Pole Awards during his final season as a full-time driver. He posted the fastest qualifying times in 2017 at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, giving him 15 total in his Cup Series career.
Dale Earnhardt Sr., for comparison, won 22 pole awards in the Cup Series and seven in the Xfinity Series. This run includes four at Talladega Superspeedway, a track where he won a staggering 10 times in the Cup Series.
The seven-time champion last won Pole Awards during the 1996 season. He kicked off the year by starting the Daytona 500 on the pole and finishing second overall behind Dale Jarrett. Dale Sr. then added his second Pole Award of the year at Watkins Glen International.
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, the driver of the No. 3 in the Cup Series, has put the iconic number at the front of the pack multiple times in NASCAR’s national series. He has six in the Cup Series, 17 in the Xfinity Series (10 in the No. 3), and 13 in the Truck Series (12 with the No. 3).
The Race Features a Long-Awaited Return of America’s Crew Chief
The race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway features the pairing of an Earnhardt and the black No. 3. It also marks the return of Larry McReynolds, the crew chief who guided Dale Sr. to a Daytona 500 win in 1998.
The last time McReynolds served as a crew chief in NASCAR was in 2000 when he worked with Mike Skinner for the full season. He has remained away from the pit box ever since, but he agreed to return and work with Earnhardt after a special request from Dillon.
McReynolds showed no signs of rust at Talladega Superspeedway. He stepped back into the role as a crew chief and helped Earnhardt secure his first career pole in a national NASCAR series.
“First off, Larry’s an incredible guy,” Earnhardt told media members, quote courtesy of CBS Sports’ Steven Taranto. “You see what he’s done as a crew chief in the past and then you see how he’s just continued to be immersed in our sport and show his passion and love for our sport. Really just speaks volumes for who he is and what he thinks about our sport and how he wants to see it continue to thrive for years to come.”
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