Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to his performance in Bud No. 8 car at South Carolina 400

This past Saturday’s South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway was special to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his loyal fanbase, as it marked the return of him behind the wheel of the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet for the first time since 2007.

Though a 40th-place starting position was less than ideal, Earnhardt’s Late Model stock car had speed — plenty of it. Speaking on Monday’s “Dale Jr. Download,” the NASCAR Hall of Famer said he knew he had a good car when he arrived at Florence. But after an adjustment to the front end in the last 30 minutes of the final practice, Earnhardt said he had a “great racecar,” allowing him to maneuver through the field during the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains key adjustment to racecar at Florence

“Honestly, the thing that really brought my car to life was not found until probably the last 30 minutes of the final practice when they made an adjustment on the front end,” Earnhardt said. “These types of racecars which is common in stock car racing with bump stops — the sway bar, the bump stops, the springs — all of those things are married together like a telephone system. And it all talks to each other. They all have to be in time. And when one’s bound up or one’s doing too much, it affects all of it. None of it works the way it’s designed to do.

“And we turned the right bolt. We turned the right screw. We made an adjustment on the left front that made all of that stuff in harmony. And man, did the car wake up in the front and roll the corner. I was having some trouble keeping the bottom of the car right up against the barrier. I want to run as low as I can, almost hit that inside barrier all the way around the turns. But if the front end’s not got the grip, it disconnects from the bottom of the racetrack and then you lose time and speed. We were fighting that the whole weekend. The car was good but not great, and when we made that adjustment, it turned into a great racecar. I had all that perfect turn and wrap all through the race.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. responds to ‘overwhelming’ fan reaction to return of Budweiser No. 8 car at Florence Motor Speedway

Earnhardt worked his way up to second behind eventual race winner Treyten Lapcevich. Earnhardt had a car capable of taking the checkered flag, but a fuel pump issue on Lap 219 brought his run to an early end. He officially finished 28th.

While not a storybook ending, Earnhardt admitted the fan reaction to the return of the No. 8 Budweiser car was overwhelming.

“We brought the Bud car back,” Earnhardt said. “I thought the idea to bring the Bud car, and the No. 8 back was really a great idea. Beautiful looking car. I was excited about all of that stuff. One of the things that I didn’t think about, and I don’t think you can prep for is what kind of reaction that other people will have to it.

“I knew people were going to like it. I loved all the excitement around it and all of the stuff that I saw from fans on social media when we did the announcement. But as we got to the racetrack, I kind of got overwhelming sense of pressure, lots and lots of pressure. The response far exceeded what I probably thought was going to happen. I was really taken aback by the reaction and the weekend and how it all kind of built.”