USA TODAY Sports

FORT WORTH -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. has made a career out of achieving top speeds on his Sunday drives.

But NASCAR's most popular driver went a bit too fast this time, on his way to the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Fiancee Amy Reimann tweeted a photo of an officer giving Earnhardt a written warning for speeding en route to the AAA Texas 500. The news first was reported by The Associated Press.

No word from Earnhardt's passenger on how fast he was going.

He has been out of the car since mid-July and will miss half of this season after suffering a concussion and dealing with symptoms. He has said he is planning to return to the No. 88 Chevrolet for the Daytona 500 next year.

Meanwhile, he has made appearances at the track, atop the pit box and in the TV booth for NBC.

Contributing: The Associated Press