Entering Friday at Talladega, it had not been since October of 2000 that a black No. 3 Chevrolet driven by an Earnhardt had won anything at Talladega Superspeedway. But with the fastest lap in NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, Jeffrey Earnhardt changed that entirely and contributed something of his own to his family's racing history at Talladega.
Earnhardt won the pole for Saturday's Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega, posting a fast lap of 52.454 (182.560 MPH) with three cars left to qualify and then holding on to earn his first career pole. Earnhardt, the 32-year old grandson of NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt and the son of former NASCAR driver Kerry Earnhardt, is driving his grandfather's number for the first time in his career this weekend.
When cars unloaded in the Xfinity garage on Friday, Earnhardt's No. 3 team presented a true throwback. Not only was it a black No. 3 prepared by Richard Childress Racing, but it was also crew chiefed by Larry McReynolds, who served as Dale Earnhardt's crew chief for his lone Daytona 500 victory in 1998.
Big cheers on pit road for Jeffrey Earnhardt. He wins the pole for the #AgPro300 pic.twitter.com/RoNZ8CHD1J
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) April 22, 2022
In his own career, Jeffrey Earnhardt has become a journeyman driver with 76 Cup Series starts and 135 Xfinity starts who has driven mostly for mid-pack teams. His success on Friday was hard won, and especially special given that it came driving his grandfather's car at a track where he won a record 10 times.
"This is unbelievable, man. This has been a dream of mine for years to get this opportunity," Earnhardt told Fox Sports. "Everything's just fallen into place. The good Lord's taken care of us ... All the guys at RCR, this is more them than it is me. All I've got to do is hold a pretty wheel and they prove time and time again to bring fast cars here to the superspeedways.
"Not a bad starting spot. We're gonna try and keep her there all race and hopefully put this thing in Victory Lane."
Earnhardt will seek to improve Saturday on his career-best finish of third, which came at Charlotte in 2019 while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Earnhardt has made four Xfinity Series starts this season with a pair of top-15 finishes at Daytona and Atlanta.
Fellow Richard Childress Racing driver and Xfinity Daytona winner Austin Hill will flank Earnhardt on the front row, followed by Ty Gibbs, Sheldon Creed, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill, Ryan Vargas, Kaz Grala, Drew Dollar, and Ryan Sieg.
