For this week’s episode of the “Dale Jr. Download,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. invited Late Model legend Lee Pulliam over to the Bojangles Studio. During the session, Dale addressed Pulliam’s NASCAR O’Reilly Series debut at Martinsville Speedway last Saturday.

Pulliam wheeled the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevy to an impressive P5 finish in the NFPA 250 after beating an early pit-road penalty and leading twice for a combined 40 laps. Well, it was indeed a great way to end his long hiatus from competitive racing. The driver, visibly emotional, was seen embracing Dale Earnhardt Jr. after it was all over.

On Thursday’s episode of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, Pulliam got emotional again as the NASCAR Hall of Famer addressed a very special moment that Pulliam had with his daughter, Brantley, moments before the 250-lap event.

“I understand why you got emotional,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., a father of two daughters himself. “But it was really profound for me to see your daughter recognize in that moment how important this was for you. What a cool, I think that’s got to feel so good as a dad, right?”

“You’ve got to feel so good as a dad to have a daughter that recognizes how important that was for you and how happy she was to see you get to do it. I saw her emotional and thankful and knowing my dad’s getting ready to do something he’s dreamed about,” he added.

Trying hard to fight back his tears, Pulliam mildly replied:

“She knew how special it was.”

This entire conversation was enough to make a grown man cry. Soon, fans started reacting to the four-minute excerpt from the interview posted by Dirty Mo Media on X. One of them commented:

“GET THIS MAN A FULL TIME RIDE.”

Another wrote:

“To see Lee’s passion for racing and the sport is amazing. Was at the Xfinity race Saturday and he drove one hell of a race. His story has made me a huge fan.”

Here are a few other reactions to Lee Pulliam’s emotional interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr.:

“These are the drivers NASCAR needs. Desperately,” someone wrote.

“What a gift to be able to show your daughter dreams come true with hard work & perseverance,” said another.

“Lee Pulliam is the man,” a fan observed. “Daughters always know buddy. Proud of you bud.”

“I cannot love this enough! Great job as a parent and driver. No Quit,” someone wrote.

Although JR Motorsports standout and former series champion Justin Allgaier won the race, it’s perhaps safe to say that Lee Pulliam won everyone’s hearts. Well, it’s not every day that a 37-year-old Late Model legend gets to do a one-off of this kind in a JR Motorsports car, and that too, at the national level.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighs in on Bubba Wallace’s Martinsville contact with Carson Hocevar

Last week at Martinsville, NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace made a hard contact with fellow racer Carson Hocevar in Stage 3, causing significant damage to both cars. Wallace’s car was wrecked so badly that he had to exit the field right away.

He was awarded a P36, his second straight finish outside of the top-30. Hocevar, on the other hand, was able to salvage a P17 finish. After the race, Wallace said the wreck wasn’t intentional at all. But Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not going to have it.

However, the two-time NASCAR champion felt that Wallace owned his mistake. He said:

“He just drove through him. I didn’t like what you did. I think he owned it, though. I mean, he wrecked him. He realized he f***ed up. Bubba was behind his teammate in second in points at one point. Now, he’s 147 points out. He’s given up roughly 60, 70 points to Tyler Reddick over the last handful of races.

Next up for the drivers is the Food City 500 at the iconic Bristol Motor Speedway. Scheduled for Sunday, April 12, the 500-lap event will be televised live on FS1, with exclusive radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.