FLORENCE, S.C. (WGHP) — Driving the iconic Budweiser No. 8, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified poorly for the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway on Saturday, but not to worry. Earnhardt Jr. had a promoter’s choice provisional and started at the rear of the field. He worked his way through the field to end up behind Treyden Lapcevich. Lapcevich also had to race his way into the feature from a last-chance race, and yet, in the closing laps of the first half they had raced themselves into running 1-2. They remained that way for the near entirety of the second half until a caution with 30 laps to go when a fuel pump issue brought Earnhardt down pit road. The crowd headed for the exits and Lapcevich was largely unchallenged by Doug Barnes Jr. and Sam Yarbrough over what remained in the race. Earnhardt Jr. did feel frustrated after qualifying. Late model driver Gary Greenwood offered him advice, according to Matt Weaver of Short Track Scene. “He came over to me, and I was mad at myself, and he was like ‘hey man, you need to keep your head up’ and I was like, ‘alright,” Earnhardt said. “He said, I’m doing this because of you." He said he lost his dad and listening to the podcast has really helped him. “He said, ‘Don’t worry about that qualifying lap.’ He’s like, ‘You know, the things you’re doing are good and you’re helping people and helping me and I’m here with a race car because it makes me feel closer to my dad,’ and I really needed to hear that," Earnhardt Jr. said. “I told him that too and so I went into the race just hoping for a safe race and a result I could be happy about and I got more than that.” He drove from the back of the field to second and was poised to challenge for the win until the fuel pump gave out. Florence Motor Speedway sold out, with more than 4,000 people packing out the rural short track.