On September 16, 2023, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in a minor car fire during a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He had to be pulled from his smoky cockpit in the pits, and the incident ended his night prematurely because of the smoke. Earnhardt was racing with the leaders until smoke in the cockpit and heat in the shifter tunnel column forced him into the pits with 30 laps left in the Food City 300 Playoff race that was eventually won by Justin Allgaier. Following the race, Earnhardt explained that he saw smoke in the car and smelled it. He thought it was the car in front of him, but then he started seeing a lot of smoke around the dash and above the dash. He pulled over by the pit stall, and some of the guys helped him out. He was disappointed because he thought he was going to finish in the top four prior to the incident.

As of October 25, 2023, there is no information indicating that anything else has happened to Dale Earnhardt Jr. ).