Dale Earnhardt Jr. slams NASCAR over “bizarre” decision to give Gateway a Cup playoff race

According to reports, NASCAR's 2025 schedule would include the race in St. Louis in the playoffs, which Dale Earnhardt Jr. has condemned.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. slams NASCAR over “bizarre” decision to give Gateway a Cup playoff race

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

NASCAR often keeps changing its race schedule. On the other hand, NASCAR’s Spanish vendor revealed the proposed racing schedule for 2025. However, it included the race in Illinois in the Round of 16, which had fans and experts in utter shock. This supposed format infuriated Dale Earnhardt Jr. who lamented the governing body for including the St. Louis race in the playoffs.

The race at World Wide Technology Raceway hosted its first Cup Series race in 2022. It was a major milestone in the track’s history ever since it was bought by Curtis Francois in 2012. However, the track did not have historic legacy associated with it. This led to fans deeming the track a normal one which would be gone within a few years from the calendar. However, the fans were proved wrong as NASCAR’s leaked schedule included the St. Louis race in the playoffs.

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On the other hand, St. Louis’ layoff spot was not accepted by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who questioned how the track even got there in the first place as he claimed it to be bizarre. He further reiterated that he had never envisioned about the sub-two-mile track getting a spot in the playoffs and wondered what were the true intentions behind getting the track into the playoffs.

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The playoffs are wild. How in the hell did St. Louis end up in the playoffs? I would love to know, I’m not … it’s bizarre. It’s fine. I mean there’s no sort of, ‘Oh you don’t deserve this’ kind of vibe, I just wonder how that even happened. I didn’t think it had a chance of getting in the playoffs ever. Not ever. It just still feels like it just got here in terms of the Cup Series. And now it’s in the playoffs. So I’m wondering where the, what the reasoning is, what the reasoning is why.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. sides with Talladega to earn a spot in the Round of 8

Apart from the outcry caused by WWT Raceway, fans also questioned Talladega’s spot in the Round of 8. While many experts condemned Talladega’s presence owing to its unpredictable nature, the NASCAR Hall of Famer sided with NASCAR’s supposed decision to bump the track up to the Round of 8.

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

The 49-year-old has been a prior winner at Talladega in the Cup series and asserted that despite having an 80 percent chance of crashing, the track’s unpredictable nature is its special characteristic. However, he was dejected by people’s concerns as Talladega could increase the stakes even more and increase the entertainment factor of the race.

I know that there’s an 80% chance you’re gonna crash and I know that there are a lot of fluke winners or the potential chance for a long-shot winner. But I don’t think that should scare the industry away from being…throw the drivers right into those difficult scenarios. Throw them into those moments where we want to see them panic.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said

Despite NASCAR claiming the leaked schedule to be not true, the last leak in 2019 had a similar calendar to the official one. Thus, the leaked 2025 calendar could be close to the official one which could hamper NASCAR from holding events for announcing special track returns in a similar way to the Bowman Gray Stadium.

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