Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders' historic MNF performance
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had an eventful weekend, returning heroically to NASCAR during the Food City 300 for the Xfinity Series at Bristol Motor Speedway, and his beloved Washington Commanders gave him something to cheer on Monday, as well.
Earnhardt Jr. has never been shy about his love for the Commanders, even if he was behind the wheel for a lot of their games during his Cup Series career. While they haven’t always rewarded him for his fandom, Jayden Daniels seems to have ushered in a new era for the franchise, and that was evident during their huge win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
During the game, Daniels balled out, putting up a historic stat line, and Earnhardt Jr. loved every minute of it, giving a shoutout to one of his favorite players on the team who also had a fantastic game in wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
“All those people wondering about Terry this week (two laughing-face emojis) #raisehail,” Earnhardt Jr. posted on X during the win, regarding McLaurin silencing doubters with a four catch, 100 yard and a touchdown performance.
At the moment, the Commanders are 2-1 and battling for first place in the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s only Week 3, but if they can defeat the Arizona Cardinals next weekend, perhaps the hype train will reach even higher levels for Daniels’ team.
Regardless, Monday was an awesome night for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Commanders fans everywhere, and it might’ve been their biggest win in quite some time. We’ll see if they can keep it going throughout 2024.
NASCAR insiders: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Xfinity series return ‘Reminds me of Michael Jordan’
Moreover, Friday’s Food City 300 for the Xfinity Series at Bristol Motor Speedway was an awesome event, and the biggest reason why might’ve been because Dale Earnhardt Jr. got behind the wheel again.
The interest Earnhardt Jr. brings to the sport when he’s in the car is unrivaled, and it’s something that NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi reacted to on the latest episode of The Teardown, where the latter even compared him to Michael Jordan at the end of his Chicago Bulls tenure.
“This is nowhere near a new opinion, and I don’t know how you fix this, it’s obvious, it’s been this way for a long time. NASCAR, the star power that Dale Earnhardt Jr. brings to NASCAR when he races, is unrivaled, and it’s so apparent,” Bianchi stated. “From the driver introductions, to just the whole — like, he makes passes on the racetrack and people are cheering. What other driver does that happen for? There’s just this aura, this presence. It’s this star power, that’s the best way to to explain it, and it’s something that NASCAR is badly lacking, in that sense. There is no answer, this isn’t new. It’s been this way for a long time, but it just became — every time, it happened here last year, and I saw it again on Friday, and it just really drives home the point of like, there is no one else like him.
“It reminds me of Michael Jordan towards the end of when MJ was at the end of his Bulls years, and I was like, ‘Who’s gonna be the next MJ?’ And you can’t replicate that, and it’s just — it’s part of it. But for this sport to thrive, to elevate itself, and there’s a lot of different things that go into it, but one of them, and I think the predominant thing, is star power. Drivers with personalities that fans gravitate towards and connect with. There are drivers who do that to some degree, certainly, but nowhere near Dale Earnhardt Jr. I don’t know the answer to that question, but it just really drove it home to me this past weekend.”
It’s always a treat to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind the wheel, and NASCAR fans hope Friday evening wasn’t the final time we will. He looked great at Bristol, and a couple more one-off races for the veteran would be awesome to see.