NASCAR fans converge on Orrville to see drivers Jarrett, Earnhardt Jr. and Berry

ORRVILLE – Hundreds of NASCAR fans from all over Ohio gathered at Jarrett Logistics to meet NASCAR's Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and the driver being sponsored by the company this year, Josh Berry.

The event took place outside the North Main Street headquarters with Jarrett’s No. 8 car in front of the building.

NASCAR Xfinity driver Berry kicked off the event by signing autographs for the first 125 attendees during the first hour.

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As the music rose on stage, attendees opened their chairs and enjoyed food from Old Carolina Barbecue and ice cream from Orr Valley Creamery. Some were wearing T-shirts with a picture of Earnhardt Jr. or Dale Jarrett, while others purchased Berry’s T-shirt from the merchandise tent.

NASCAR fans come from far and wide to enjoy the day

Julie Grossniklaus of Wooster came with her grandchildren to see Earnhardt Jr.

“We used to take our kids and go to the races all the time like Winton and Daytona,” she said, adding she and her family were fans of his grandfather Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. and they were at the Daytona International Speedway in 2001 when his car crashed.

Her granddaughter, Lebby, said she remembers going to Daytona 500 when she was a kid.

“I’ve always been a good fan of NASCAR driving, since birth I was raised around it,” Lebby Grossniklaus said.

Magician and professional card thrower Rick Smith Jr. amazed the audience with mind-reading and escape tricks. He engaged attendees by asking trivia questions and giving Dale Jarrett autographed hero cards to the winners.

Alex Westgerdes of Sidney was one of the winners. He put on his Dale Jarrett T-shirt and didn’t hesitate to drive three hours to see his favorite driver.

“I’ve been a racing fan for 30 years,” he said. “(Jarrett) is a great racer. I listen to his podcast; he is still well-known even though he is not racing anymore,” Westgerdes said.

NASCAR's elite take questions from

At 5 p.m. Thursday, the moment that all the crowd had been waiting for started as the drivers came on stage to answer questions from the audience.

Starting with how they got into racing, Earnhardt Jr. said he grew up around racers from both sides of his family. Both his father and his grandfather were racers. He also had mechanics on his mother's side of the family.

“Every house I went to, every garage, every backyard there were race cars everywhere,” Earnhardt Jr. said.

Jarrett and Earnhardt spoke about their family history.

Since Earnhardt’s grandfather and Jarrett’s father raced together in the ’50s the two families became friends.

“They were competitors, but there was a great respect between the two of them and there were a lot of things that this relationship created,” Earnhardt said.

On victories and losses, Jarrett said he recalled his loss at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1998.

“We built a brand new car, and it was the fastest that I’ve ever dreamed in my life,” he said. But as his car started to sputter, he ran out of gas, which put him four laps behind.

In 1999 he went back and won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. “Little bit of redemption, but as you can see, I’m over 1998 now,” he said laughing.

The Q&A ended an hour later but the fun didn’t. The drivers came off the stage and greeted the audience while signing some autographs.

The turnout included Jarrett employees and their families, customers, and community members.

“We had the first people show up at 9:30 this morning. It was great to have them here as we were setting up,” said Jess Crawford, Jarrett’s talent acquisition supervisor.“We definitely had the turnout that we wanted and a beautiful day,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: NASCAR's Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt Jr. visit Jarrett's in Orrville