NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweets with fan on Trump's immigration policy

Bob McManaman
USA TODAY Sports
Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted with a NASCAR fan from Indonesia about President Trump's immigration ban.

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is making headlines for a Twitter conversation he had Sunday with a NASCAR fan in Indonesia about one of President Trump's new policies.

The sport's most popular driver, who was back testing in a car at Phoenix International Raceway for the first time since being sidelined by a concussion last July, was asked for his reaction to President Trump’s controversial immigration ban on people from seven predominantly-Muslim countries.

Earnhardt tweeted back that his family left from Germany in the 1700s to escape religious persecution, adding, “America is created by immigrants.”

On Tuesday at the track, he expanded on why he chose to reach out to the fan.

“I felt like I wanted to show him some compassion and I looked at his profile and saw he was a NASCAR fan. I just felt like reaching out,” Earnhardt said. “I wasn’t trying to interject into a political conversation. … It just really is very, very interesting what’s going on in the world considering all the research I did on my own family tree.

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"... I read a lot of news and try to stay on top of everything, current events. Not that I'm an expert or understand everything going on, but it just felt like that guy needed some compassion. Not that I understand what it feels like to be in that position, but I certainly felt bad for the guy.”

McManaman writes for the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac