Dale Earnhardt Jr. pinpoints 75-year-old European track NASCAR “absolutely should look at” to host The Clash
NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. highlights the tracks in Europe as a solid option to host the unofficial season opener, The Clash.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via NASCAR.com)
The NASCAR Cup series had an impressive start to the season, with Chase Elliott winning The clash, in chaotic but entertaining event at Bowman Gray. Though the track proves its worth and deserves to host the race in 2026, NASCAR hasn’t made a decision on it as they are reportedly looking into moving the race to other venues, with Brazil being a priority.
Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. via his podcast has shared his feelings about potentially hosing the race overseas. He isn’t big fan of the race going outside of USA. But if NASCAR wants to go abroad, Junior wants them to race at Indy course at Brands Hatch. It’s a short-track road course at England that was built in 1950.
But if they take the Clash overseas, I think that one track that they absolutely should look at is Brands Hatch. The Indy course at Brands Hatch, it’s like a short-track road course. I don’t think, they’re wanting to take the Clash maybe overseas or to some different countries.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said via Dale Jr. Download.
He pointed out that the clash should be hosted in a short-circuit format and having it any huge road courses won’t be fun. Junior also highlighted that there are some ovals around the world that can be hosts for the event as well.
I think you have to keep it on that short-circuit format. You can’t go to these long mile-and-a-half or two-and-a-half-mile or three-mile road courses and have the Clash. That is not going to be fun. … So, they may have some tracks that exist, some small ovals that exist in some of these countries that they can try to run at.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. proposes changes to fastest lap award
The NASCAR Hall of Famer in the same podcast also discussed the rules changes for the 2025 Cup season. One of the changes was the fastest lap award, that would give the fastest racer of the day a bonus point, which accumulated can be a game changer.
Though Dale Jr. is excited about the rule change, he has some reservations. He has urged NASCAR to make some condition for eligibility for the bonus points to make sure drivers don’t take advantage of it. Junior pointed out that NASCAR has the bonus points should be tracked by the lead car in tracks like the Superspeedways.
So, for Talladega, Daytona, Atlanta, and some of those tracks, I almost feel like this only should matter to the car that is leading the race. This bonus point for the fastest lap should be tracked by the lead car. If you’re fifth and run the fastest lap, sorry. Great, but you have to be leading the race to acquire this award.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.
The comment from Junior seems to on point and something NASCAR should look into. Drivers taking advantage of the fastest lap bonus points is a regular occurrence in other racing series like in F1. But at the same time, a one-point bonus isn’t going to change the points table much and might not be in NASCAR’s priority list of issues to solve.
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Justin P Joy
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