No, that’s Alex Bowman at the wheel of the No. 88 car for JR Motorsports, Earnhardt’s team in the NASCAR subseries. You’ll find Junior in a slower, more comfortable seat for the race that begins about 1 p.m. ET.
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Earnhardt will make his debut as guest commentator on the TV broadcast. The Menards 250 starts about 1:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Bowman is getting several races in with Earnhardt, and Saturday he made a solid showing in qualifying. His speed was fastest of the day — but by just 0.05 of a second over Erik Jones.
Alex Bowman (Getty Images)
What mattered was, Bowman starts first and got a thumbs-up from the boss.
Why is Bowman’s pole win special? Other than his Junior connection?
Junior should have some interesting things to say about the XFinity Series race, and about his run in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, the weekend showpiece in the Sprint Cup Series.
He didn’t qualify well, but Earnhardt was much more satisfied after Saturday’s morning Sprint Cup practice.
About those Joe Gibbs Racing drivers … Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez are on the third row and will team up with Jones as the race develops.
