Dale Earnhardt Jr. Proposes Game Changing Modification to NASCAR Overtime

Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has given shared his thoughts on the changes that needs to be made to NASCAR overtime format.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Proposes Game Changing Modification to NASCAR Overtime

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via Newsweek)

The NASCAR overtime has been a point of discussion and controversy since its inspection. Most often the race leaders get hurt when there are multiple restarts at the end owing to wild incidents, and the races often become a fuel saving game ruining the overall entertainment. Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has given his thoughts a change to the current format that can change the sport forever.

In the recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. pointed out that he believes it is time to have overtime conversations about Truck and Xfinity Series, inspired by a comment from social media he came across on the topic. He wants overtime in stock car racing to matter like it does in other sports where it used when the finish is in question, when the teams end in ties, unlike in racing where there is obviously a leader when the incident occurs.

I think it might be time to have a conversation around overtime in the Trucks and Xfinity. I saw this, and I wish I would’ve tagged the person that brought this up, but it was really, really well articulated. I had never thought about it like this. In other sports, overtime is used to help decide a game where the ending is in question. Both teams have ended regulation with the same score.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. stated, via the Dale Jr. Download.

He wants NASCAR to implement similar framework for the NASCAR races and the preposed that the overtime should only be used when the lead is contested. When the caution comes out, if the race leader isn’t more than one second ahead of the second-place racer, then the lead is contested and the overtime should happen.

Should we apply a more specific, similar framework to NASCAR races? Should we only have an overtime attempt if the lead was contested? Maybe we all decide that, if the caution came out, if the lead was within one second, that would draw an overtime, because we would then say, ‘Well, it was a contested lead. There was a chance for second to do something in the final lap.’

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. try to explain what not a contested lead be

Further talking about the point, Dale Jr. asserted that if the leading driver had a lead more than one second, there is no possibility that the second-place driver will catch up in the final lap of the race. So, when the race goes to overtime in these situations, it is often the drivers the grinded the most on the day that get suffered the most.

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

If the lead was maybe more than that, by any means, a second-and-a-half to 20 seconds, the race is over. The leader was in clear control on the final lap, and there should be no overtime, because he or she was going to win the race. That’s something that I thought was a really healthy idea.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

The idea proposed by the Hall of Famer seems pretty healthy and something that NASCAR can get inspiration from. There is potential more controversy regarding how to decide if a lead is contested or not and how fans would respond if their favorite driver gets in the wrong end of decision regarding contested lead.

But it is a risk that is worth taking for NASCAR and make the overtime in racing truer to what it was supposed to be at the first. Drivers like Denny Hamlin, who has been hurt by multiple overtime restarts in the past would love to have this change. It would be interesting to see how the NASCAR community is going to respond to this.

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