There's a reason Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the award for NASCAR's Most Popular Driver every year from 2003 to 2017 — he is refreshingly relatable.
So when he was asked about finishing seventh in Stage 1 at the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway, it shouldn't come as a surprise that his answer was an honest one.
"I didn't think I'd be this good," Earnhardt joked on his car radio talking with NBC Sports. "I lowered my expectations, aim low right? That's what I do, and I feel like we're doing pretty good, so the car is great, probably way better than the driver is, but just trying to get all the laps, just get home."
This is Earnhardt's first race since the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway in 2018. He finished fourth then and is in position once again to finish well at Darlington.
But he'll have to fend off some of the Xfinity Series' young drivers as defending champion Tyler Reddick came out on top in Stage 1 while Christopher Bell finished third and Cole Custer in sixth.
"I'm not as hot as I thought I was going to be, my heart rate's not as high as I thought it was going to be, these guys race harder than I thought they did, (inaudible) holding off for the race there, he was racing hard," Earnhardt said. "It's a lot of fun though."
It's been a trying couple of weeks for Earnhardt as he and his family were involved in a plane crash in Tennessee last week.
He sat out the broadcast for the race in Bristol but came back for the event in Darlington this weekend.
"I'm just thankful and ready to live our lives," Earnhardt said earlier this week.
He added: "Things have been great. ... We’ve been just, you know, taking some time to ourselves.
"I'm excited to be back at a track. This is familiar to me."