Dale Earnhardt Jr. Agrees with Richard Petty, declares “Road Course Racing Isn’t NASCAR”

NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has shared his thoughts on the feeling that road course racing doesn’t belonging in the sport.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Agrees with Richard Petty, declares “Road Course Racing Isn’t NASCAR”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Richard Petty (Via IMAGO)

The NASCAR garage had an impressive weekend at Mexico City, with close racing, some wild incidents and a dominant 16+ seconds win from Shane van Gisbergen. But after the race, one of the most important topics of discussion has been; is road course racing really part of NASCAR? Hall of Famer Richard Petty and later Dale Earnhardt Jr. has some bold comments on the situation.

In his post-race analysis, discussing the questions from the fans, seven times Cup champion Richard Petty pointed out that raid course racing doesn’t belong in NASCAR and he also questioned SVG’s playoff entry. Two times Xfinity Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. agreed with this statement in the latest episode of his podcast, but there is caveat.

I agree with Richard. Road course racing isn’t NASCAR. …There’s been road course racing in NASCAR since the ’50s…

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said via Dale Jr. Download.

There has been one road course event since the 50’s with Riverside, which is no longer part of NASCAR. But the driver didn’t take it seriously and often only focussed on the ovals racing. Now that the sanctioning body has removed some top oval tracks from the schedule for road courses, demanding more from the drivers.

NASCAR stock car racing is predominantly an oval-based series. Always has been. We have removed some ovals, we’ve removed some tracks, added some road courses. I’m fine with that because I do like the idea that our drivers need to be great at all things.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. asserted.

The JR Motorsports co-owner likes the idea that the road courses force drivers to be good at different style of racing, making the champion of the sport more than just am oval racer. He even recalled how he was able to overlook road course racing, race badly there for a longtime in his earlier NASCAR days.

If you’re going to be a champion, you now have to be as good at a road course as you are at an oval. Back when I started driving, you didn’t. You could f***ing suck at the road course as long as you were good everywhere else.

Dale Earnhardt added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains how NASCAR has changed over the years

He highlighted that in his younger days; NASCAR racing was all about ovals and the drivers raced almost exclusively on the ovals to secure a place in the elite division. That was the only career path towards top tier for almost everyone in the past, such as The Petty’s and Earnhardt’s.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

If you wanted to be a racer in NASCAR, if you wanted to get to NASCAR, you raced a short track somewhere locally. You ran stock cars, you ran late model stock, you ran the Busch Series or the Sportsman cars back in the ’80s. You raced full-bodied cars around ovals. …That was the route.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

But things have changed a lot in the sport with the addition of road courses, street races and even dirt races for some time, to the schedule. This factor makes it important for drivers to be good at all types of racing, and helps to produce more exciting events.

That was yesterday’s NASCAR, and that’s what Richard Petty is talking about. But we’re in a different time. Today’s NASCAR is all-encompassing. It is road courses, short tracks, superspeedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

The comments from the Hall of Famers are one the point, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. making more sense in terms of explaining the evolution of the sport. It would be interesting to see how everything going to playout for the sport regarding road course racing in the coming years.

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