Bobby Dale Earnhardt places ninth in career-best ARCA finish at Daytona

Fourth-generation racer and Rise Racing driver Bobby Dale Earnhardt piloted the No. 89 Chevrolet through the late-race carnage, finishing ninth in the 2026 ARCA Menard's Series season-opener. He spent most of the race at the back of the lead pack, before making a late charge in the final laps. Gio Ruggiero won the race for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Bobby is the son of former racer Kerry Earnhardt, nephew of two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., and the grandson of seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Dale Earnhardt. 

Earnhardt was driving a familiar paint scheme, with the black/silver car and white door number serving as a throwback to the iconic black No. 3 his grandfather drove for the majority of his NASCAR career. 2026 marks 25 years since Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500. 

Bobby Dale Earnhardt

Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Earnhardt family are highly successful at Daytona, and no driver in history has more wins at the famous superspeedway than Dale Jr. and Dale Sr. ... Even Bobby's younger brother Jeffrey, earned his career-best Cup Series finish at Daytona (11th in 2018). 

Bobby was making just his sixth career ARCA start on Saturday, and his first at Daytona. His previous best result came at Elko during the 2017 season, where he finished 19th. So, he bettered that by ten positions. He also has seven starts in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, finishing as high as 27th at Kansas in 2018.

The 38-year-old is competing full-time in the ARCA Menard's Series this year. Along with the tribute paint scheme, he also honored Dale Sr. on the helmet he wore during the ARCA season-opener, which you can see below:

Bobby Dale Earnhardt helmet

Photo by: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images