Dale Earnhardt Jr. will compete in the March 21 Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, JR Motorsports made official Tuesday.
Earnhardt will drive the No. 8 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Hellmann’s. Since he retired from full-time Cup Series racing after the 2017 season, Earnhardt’s two Xfinity starts - in 2018 (Richmond) and 2019 (Darlington) - have been with Hellmann’s as his primary sponsor. Now a NBC Sports analyst, Earnhardt finished in the top five in both races.
Daniel Hemric and Jeb Burton will pilot the No. 8 the rest of the season.
Earnhardt’s last Cup Series start came at Miami. His last Xfinity start at the 1.5-mile track was in 2008. In five Xfinity starts there his best result is second in 1999 before the track was changed to its current banked configuration.
The confirmation of Earnhardt’s race for 2020 is part of an extension between JR Motorsports and Unilever, JRM’s longest-tenured partnership, which enters its 12th season.
As part of the deal, Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 Chevrolet will have sponsorship from Unilever in five Xfinity races.
“In our sport, partnerships are everything,” Kelley Earnhardt Miller, JRM’s general manager said in a press release. “We don’t throw the words ‘cornerstone partner’ around a lot, but when we do, Unilever exemplifies its meaning.”