Dale Earnhardt Jr. Blasts Criticism of Goodyear over Phoenix Cup finale drama

The Cup Series championship finale at Phoenix had multiple controversial situations throughout the race. Amid multiple other issues, the Goodyear tire failure was the major one. William Byron‘s blown tire that caused an untimely caution caused Denny Hamlin to lose out on the title win to Kyle Larson. Now, amid criticism towards Goodyear and its tires at Phoenix, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has condemned the situation and spoken in favor of the tire giant.

Denny Hamlin remained the winningest driver in the 2025 season heading into the championship finale at Phoenix. He was on par to win the race, especially after his pole position start. The 44-year-old led the most laps and just had to bring home his maiden Cup Series title win after racing in the sport for over two decades. However, William Byron‘s accident into the wall after a blown tire changed the entire outcome of the race, and Kyle Larson ultimately won the title after leading zero laps.

Although the blown tire caused a shift in the outcome of the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. still doesn’t believe Goodyear is to blame. He clearly stated that people should not blame Goodyear for whatever happened at the championship finale in Phoenix. Dale Jr. also recalled the fact that the infamous tire giant introduced a different tire compound for multiple races, such as Martinsville, to make racing more exciting on such short ovals.

Do not blame Goodyear for this sh*t, If we aren’t careful with our words around Goodyear’s involvement — so like, fans, what Goodyear’s done to soften the tire and make the racing better at Martinsville and all the other short tracks, is a massive gain, and they had a pretty solid tire for this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on Dale Jr. Download.

Further, Dale Earnhardt Jr. insisted that Goodyear did not need any sort of bad publicity, as it was already doing well for its brand as a whole. Although the tires wore out faster during some races and might look bad for Goodyear as a tire brand, they were not concerned about it as long as the racing was exciting. However, the giant definitely did not want any bad publicity, especially of such a great magnitude as changing the outcome of the Phoenix race.

If we get on social media or if our drivers get out of the car or I come on this show and sh*t on Goodyear, they’re gonna say, ‘We don’t need bad publicity, no matter what. Even if we know the direction we’re going with the tire is correct, we do not need negative publicity, so we will make sure that when we go to the next race, we avoid negative publicity.’

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. warns fans of Goodyear making better tires at cost of racing action

Goodyear will listen to the feedback and likely make changes to the tires. Although this will make the tires wear out more slowly, it will lead to less racing action and fewer exciting pit calls on track. The tire company wouldn’t appreciate the negative publicity and listen to the people’s feedback on the matter, which might not be the best decision in hindsight.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. warned fans who were criticizing Goodyear too harshly. Dale Jr. pointed out that there would be a lack of racing action and an overall bad product on the race track. The 51-year-old reckoned that Goodyear would listen to the feedback and make changes to avoid negative publicity, which ultimately would worsen racing action.

Hence, the people must manage expectations from the tire giant and should be satisfied with whatever is available for NASCAR at the moment so as to keep racing exciting.

We’re gonna have drivers not being able to pass, we’re gonna have a bad product on the racetrack. So, be careful, though, because if they see negative press around their involvement in the sport, they react to that, and they’ll go change whatever they need to change to avoid that. They want the race to end and not anyone say anything bad about Goodyear.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. noted

Regardless of the back and forth on the matter, tires weren’t the major problem at the Phoenix race. The playoff format is designed in a way that such moments are bound to happen in a championship fight. The best someone can do from such issues is move on from them and hope to have a better outing in the coming season.

Read More: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Insists Jesse Love’s 2025 Xfinity Championship Triumph “Wasn’t a Fluke”

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