Standing next to his team’s car before Thursday’s qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked at his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, in amazement. “God dang,” he said to her before the invocation,

Dale Earnhardt Jr was emotional after Justin Allgaier raced the JR Motorsports car into the Daytona 500 for the first time on Feb. 13. The NASCAR legend tells why.

At the track that bursts with triumph and tragedy for his family, Earnhardt celebrated Thursday night when JR Motorsports and driver Justin Allgaier qualified for Sunday’s season-opening race.