Dale Earnhardt Jr. blame himself for poor All-Star race, gives concerning verdict on short-track’s future
The short-track racing is engraved in NASCAR’s DNA.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Credits: IMAGO)
NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the one who championed the resurrection of the North Wilkesboro speedway. He convinced NASCAR to give NWBS, which hasn’t hosted a Cup race since 1996, a chance. The premiers stock car racing organization decided to cater to the popular demand and shifted the 2023 All-Star race from Texas to the 0.66 miles track.
Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson dominated the $1 Million chase and won the race convincingly with 23Xi Racing’s Bubba Wallace at P2. To the disappointment of many, everything other than the main race was entertaining at North Wilkesboro. While one driver dominating races is nothing new in NASCAR, it wasn’t what fans expected when a million dollars was at stake.
The semi-retired driver acknowledged that the race didn’t live up to the hype though a lot of fans showed up. He pointed out that NASCAR got the race format wrong, and he added that he had a lot of influence in designing the format and could have done good work. He was seen pretty upset during his Dale Jr. Download podcast while talking about it.
“If you can’t tell in my voice, there is a hint or maybe more than that, of disappointment. I’ve tried to get over it. I am so so disappointed in how the race for the All-Star played out. There’s been this incredible buildup. When you get a hype train going like that, you ain’t going to stop it. People just poured coal into it, and everybody is excited, and it’s just gaining speed,” Dale Jr said in his podcast.
“And I thought, man, we’re going to have a great race. Let’s just line them up for 200 laps. We’ll limit tires… We never got a caution. That was the problem. And I was, you know, I was able to influence a lot of what was going on throughout the week, and yes, I was able to influence this format, so if you didn’t like it and you thought the race was boring, I will take a little responsibility or a lot of responsibility for that,” Dale Jr, added.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is terrified about short tracks future in NASCAR
While further discussing the issue, NASCAR’s most financially successful driver said that he is terrified about the future of Short-track, which is embedded in the sports DNA. He urged the sanctioning body to fix the issues of racing Next-Gen car racing in short tracks.
“I’m terrified, Mike that if we don’t get this right, if we don’t turn it around, change the direction or change the perception of everybody’s opinion of this Next Gen car going to short tracks, I’m afraid that we’re going to continue to lose opportunities at short tracks,” Dale Jr. said.
He pointed out that Goodyear, the official tire partner of NASCAR, can solve some issues with short-track racing. Earnhardt Jr. said that if they can get the tire component right and the racing can be close and entertaining as it once was.
“So I hope that NASCAR and Goodyear, I know that they know what they saw. I know that they know why they saw it. I just hope that somehow this is a catalyst to encourage them to take some risks on what we’re doing to short tracks. It is not just the tire. The tire’s a massive, massive component because it connects the car to the road. But it’s also not just NASCAR’s Next-Gen car,” Dale Jr. added.
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