Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced Tuesday that he is entering the Charlie Powell Memorial South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway, putting him back behind the driver's wheel for the second time in 2022. Earnhardt will compete in the prestigious late model stock car race scheduled for Nov. 19 at the Timmonsville, S.C. short track, which was among the venues that Earnhardt grew up racing on.
Earnhardt's first late model race of the season came back in August, when he drove a No. 3 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the CARS Tour Window World 125 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Earnhardt finished third in a race won by JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil, who went on to win the series championship.
I grew up competing at @FlorenceMSpdwy and have been looking forward to taking the wheel there again against some of the best short-track racers in the world. https://t.co/NG6ENrdWom
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 25, 2022
Earnhardt's presence in the field is not the only element bolstering this year's event.
NASCAR and FloRacing announced that they have added $30,000 to the race's purse, which more than doubles the prize pool compared to last year's race.
"We are extremely grateful for the commitment from NASCAR and FloRacing to make the South Carolina 400 even bigger and better than ever," read a statement by track owner Steve Zacharias. "Florence Motor Speedway is a premier destination for short track racing, and we can't wait to showcase it to the world on FloRacing and to the fans in attendance on Nov. 18-19."
The South Carolina 400 serves as the spiritual successor to the historic Myrtle Beach 400, which had served as the state's preeminent late model race before Myrtle Beach Speedway was shut down and demolished following the 2020 season. Both runnings of the South Carolina 400 at Florence have been won by Ty Majeski.
In addition to Earnhardt, other notable drivers on the current South Carolina 400 entry list include Kvapil, Florence track champion Kade Brown and short track racing stars like Brenden Queen, Kaden Honeycutt and Jacob Heafner, among others.
