Dale Earnhardt Jr. to drive in Darlington Xfinity race

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Dale Jr. will race at NASCAR’s track dubbed “Too Tough To Tame.”

Earnhardt Jr. announced Friday he’ll compete at Darlington Raceway’s Xfinity Series race on Aug. 31 during the track’s Southern 500 weekend.

Earnhardt Jr. retired from fulltime racing in 2017. He ran the Xfinity race at Richmond last September and finished fourth.

He said the main reason he picked Darlington was the track surface that puts a premium on being smart and managing tires. He said the 1.366-mile track is “one of the few stops on the circuit that provides that challenge.”

Earnhardt’s late father, Dale Sr., won nine times at Darlington, second to David Pearson’s 10. Two years ago, Darlington renamed one of its turn three suite towers “Earnhardt Towers.”