Dale Earnhardt Jr. Slams NASCAR Over “Concrete Racetrack Gimmick” at Dover

Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has shared his thoughts on the issues with concrete surface at the Dover International Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Slams NASCAR Over “Concrete Racetrack Gimmick” at Dover

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

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Since the resurfacing using concrete, the Dover International Speedway has produced a mixed bag of race results. But the Monster Mile hasn’t let down the fans as well as the driver yet. But for Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. that isn’t enough, as he is not a big fan of the concrete surface, and hasn’t hesitated to share his feelings.

In the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, after his prediction about a disappointing Dover race went wrong, with rain playing a significant role, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took shots at NASCAR over the track’s surface. He highlighted how the track has never offered drivers enough grip in the races and how the new surface has made it worse.

Being a concrete racetrack, it rarely puts the drivers in a situation where they can do things differently to be able to give you a different style of event or a different style of racing than what we saw this past Sunday. Dover has always lacked grip, and on the concrete, the tires are always kind of skating and chattering across that concrete.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said via Dale Jr. Download.

One of the biggest issues with the track, which is high-banked, fast and bumpy, is the relationship between downforce and grip. The teams can’t reduce the downforce of the car, as they can’t keep up the pace with out it. According to the Hall of Famer this is a major problem with the races at the Monster Mile.

Further talking about the point, Junior admitted that NASCAR doesn’t agree with his opinion on the topic and pointed out that they won’t be repaving the surface anytime soon, despite the need to do it being there. He sees it all as nothing but bunch of gimmicks, that has yielded semi-success to the sport so far.

I know they don’t believe my ass, and they won’t do it, but I think if they pave the racetrack, we’d see a different race there, but they’ll never do it. Now that they’ve got Miles the Monster and all that going on, they are never going to change the gimmick that Dover is.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes a playoff prediction

In the same podcast, the two times Xfinity Series champion shared his thoughts on the playoff situation with five more races left in the regular season. At the moment, there four drivers that in on the last-16 on points, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Chris Buscher and Bubba Wallace. The coming five events possibly will see two new race winners that could affect the two closes to the cutline.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via Newsweek)

That [playoff] cut line every year has moved. Every single year, someone below the line has won their way in, and that’s going to move the cut line above Bubba Wallace, which is right now Chris Buescher. So, Chris Buescher is at +44, and he’s 19 points behind Alex Bowman, who is at +63.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

The only driver that is safe in the battle to make it into the last-16 on points, is Reddick, and the remaining three has to either win races or hope there is no new race winner in the remaining regular season events. Junior argued his point, by highlighting how three drivers who were in the same position as the three now failed to make into the playoffs in 2024.

Maybe last year, we had three guys that were above the cut line at this point that did not make the playoffs. You’re never safe.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

The comments from the Hall of Famer are a warning to the drivers in question and they need to step up their game, to secure consistent top-5 finishes if not a win in the coming events. 23XI Racing Bubba Wallace is the drivers that needs to work the most among the four at the moment. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout.

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