Dale Earnhardt Jr. Explains Why NASCAR Needs to Reduce Road Course Races and It’s Not SVG

NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has shared his thoughts on why the sport needs to reduce the number of Cup road course races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Explains Why NASCAR Needs to Reduce Road Course Races and It’s Not SVG

Shane van Gisbergen and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

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The NASCAR Road course racing seen is a one man show at the moment, as Trackhouse Racing Shane van Gisbergen won four of the five races so far, in his rookie season. But not everyone in the community is happy with the amount road course in the schedule and as Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained, it has nothing to do with SVG.

Talking about the calls to reduce the number of road course races in the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. asserted that absolute domination of Shane van Gisbergen has nothing to od with the sentiment. He highlighted that the SVG fans and Trackhouse fans would opt for double the number of road course races if they have the opportunity.

Nobody wants to get rid of, listen to this, this is really important: Nobody wants to get rid of road courses because SVG’s great. I mean if I was Trackhouse and anybody that worked there, I want more road courses. I want 12.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said via Dale Jr. Download.

He then explained how the three times Supercars champion is the reason why everyone is excited about the road course in the 2025 season. Every week the one big question is, will this week will finally be the date where the veteran will get beaten and as the struggling Next-Gen cars a major buzzkill, from which the Kiwi is the only good distraction.

So, nobody’s wanting to get rid of road courses because SVG is great. I look forward to going to road courses to see if he can be beat. What I think is [the] point is that the car struggles at road courses. It has since it came in.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Talking about the car aspect, Dale Jr. asserted that the Next-Gen car has a overtake problem in the road courses. The expectation that was set for 75 years was door to door, aggressive racing in NASCAR. But the current car’s isn’t producing that at the moment and it shouldn’t be normalized for the good of the sport.

We expect a faster car to be able to overtake with no problem. We expect contact. We expect door-to-door. That’s our expectation, because of the last 75 years of what we’ve seen. So, when we come up on a road course now and we don’t see what we expect, we’re not willing to allow this type of product to be normalized. Or we hope that this won’t be normalized.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. asserted.

How many road course races Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants in the Cup series?

In the same conversation, the two times Xfinity Series champion went onto explain how many races should be cut from the schedule. He asserted that he is with the 10% fanbase of the sport, that want only two events, preferably Sonoma and Watkins Glen. But he doesn’t talk about it much, considering the NASCAR social media won’t be kind to him.

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

My opinion on how many road courses we should have is going to be in the minority. I know that the way I feel about it is probably only about what 10% of the fanbase thinks. I like two road courses. I like Sonoma, I like Watkins Glen. I’m fine with a couple. And now I know that that’s the minority, so that’s why I don’t really talk about it too much and I don’t go on social media.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

The comments from the JR Motorsport co-owner seems rational to an extent and though two road courses race a little too much, reducing it to three or four events can be a solid move. It would be interesting to see how the sanctioning body and NASCAR community is going to respond to the assertion from the veteran.

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