Dale Earnhardt Jr. is Feeling Like a NASCAR Fan Again After Years of Frustration

NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has shared his thoughts on the positive atmosphere the sport has found themselves in yet again.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is Feeling Like a NASCAR Fan Again After Years of Frustration

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

The NASCAR community is showing signs of return to the good old days after a strong start to the 2026 season, with the Daytona 500. Fans were more engaged than ever, the racing was more exiting, as racing took the centre stage over aggression. The positive atmosphere in the garage following the charter lawsuit settlement and teams getting evergreen charter also helped.

Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has talked about the change in the latest episode of his Dale Jr. Download. The outspoken former NASCAR second division champion has been disappointed with the elite division race product in the last few years, with the next-gen car making thinks complicated, juts like majority of the fans.

But after the Daytona 500 won by Tyler Reddick, the JR Motorsports co-owners is feeling some positivity. He admitted that he was really engaged with the weekend as a fan and observer after a longtime. Many in the racing community has offered similar feeling about the overall atmosphere within the sport.

The whole weekend felt good just as an observer and a fan of NASCAR. It felt like there were more people there, maybe it was the same amount as last year, but it just felt like more people were excited about what was happening. It felt like there was more on-track activity.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said via Dalr Jr. Download podcast.

The veteran further printed out that more big names entering the weekend and different story lines made it feel like an old school Speedweek something the sport has been missing for many years. This positivity was evident in the Fox Sports Daytona 500 ratings. They saw 11% increase compared to last season with a peak viewership of 9.15 million.

There were more names in the races. More human-interest stories, so we were tuned into what was happening throughout the weekend. It felt like Speedweeks again. The old atmosphere.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes NASCAR is going in the direction

In the same conversation later, Junior pointed out that he was excited about the race and how the community interacted. Despite not being an optimist, he sees this as a sign as the sport is on the right direction of growth.  

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Justin Allgaier (via Imago)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Justin Allgaier (via Imago)

I’m usually the kind of person wondering what’s going to go wrong. I wouldn’t say I’m a pessimist, but I’m not an optimist. But I feel like we’re going in the right direction.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

The HOF racer asserted that the return of the Chase championship format might have played significant role in the change. Now that the points are more valuable that clutch wins, fans will be more excited every week.

We brought the Chase back and I’m still super excited about that. It’s fun to check the points standings after the race. I want to be interested, and we fixed that.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

The comments from the veteran seems to on point, as the new and more legitimate championship format has given the community more hope about the sports future. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for NASCAR in the coming years.

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