{"id":238700,"date":"2025-10-25T07:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T07:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/238700\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T07:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T07:10:09","slug":"dale-earnhardt-jr-acknowledges-doubts-about-his-nascar-persona-motorsport-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/238700\/","title":{"rendered":"Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledges doubts about his NASCAR persona – Motorsport – Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/a>, NASCAR<\/a> means everything to him. But as a result, his passion for improvement and maximizing the product on offer can sometimes overcome his desire not to shade others\u2019 perspectives on the sport.<\/p>\n

NASCAR runs in the blood of the 51-year-old, perhaps more so than with anybody else. The grandson of former NASCAR star Ralph, and the son of seven-time champion Dale Sr., the Earnhardt name is inextricably linked with the sport, with young Wyatt Miller, Earnhardt Jr.\u2019s nephew<\/a>, the latest to enter the motorsport world.<\/p>\n

A 36-time race winner, Hall of Famer, Xfinity Series team owner, and late model series owner, Earnhardt Jr. is one of the most impactful and respected figures in the sport today, a fact which he is acutely aware of.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with The Athletic<\/a>, Earnhardt Jr. admitted to concerns about how any criticism on his part directed at NASCAR risks unfairly jading the opinions of fans or damaging the sport itself. He noted, \u201cSince I bought the CARS Tour, I\u2019ve gotten a really unique perspective on NASCAR\u2019s position\u2026I worry about that. I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earnhardt Jr. went on to note that he “hates” that certain opinions he has made public previously have had a detrimental impact on somebody\u2019s stance on NASCAR, calling the sport \u201cthe most important thing in my life\u201d besides his family.<\/p>\n

Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf NASCAR failed, or if NASCAR was to diminish, all the things that I ever accomplished \u2014 or more importantly, that my dad accomplished \u2014 are less valuable, less important,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want NASCAR to succeed and be the greatest thing ever. We\u2019ve all got our own version of NASCAR, and what we think NASCAR could be and should be. I believe in its success. But it\u2019s hard sometimes to keep your mouth shut.\u201d<\/p>\n

One venture that has helped Earnhardt Jr. learn when to hold back has been his \u2018Dale Jr. Download\u2019 podcast, which is produced by his own media company, Dirty Mo Media. A prime example of this has been the ongoing debate surrounding the much-maligned current Playoff format, of which Earnhardt Jr. has been a consistent and vocal critic, believing a return to the full-season 36-race championship is the best way to go.<\/p>\n

DON’T MISS…<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you with all honesty, no B.S., the champion this year is a deserving champion,\u201d he said. \u201cI would celebrate them, drink a beer with them, and be as envious and as jealous of them as any champion we\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have a format that I love better than the one we use today. So I can tell you both things, and they both can be true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite this improvement, Earnhardt Jr. seemingly remains critical of himself, saying that he\u2019ll sometimes wake up and “think I need to be less of a talking head, because a lot of the things I want or think are better are not going to happen.”<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cAnd so I\u2019m spewing all this criticism and critique into the middle distance that\u2019s benefiting nothing. But then there\u2019s days you get up and you\u2019re like, \u2018I want this to be better. I want more of this. I want more for this.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you want to fight for something, or you get confident or passionate about a particular viewpoint in the sport or about the car itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NextGen car currently used in the Cup Series has proven another bone of contention in NASCAR circles, with Earnhardt Jr. again unflinching in his frustrations with it. However, in a recent interview with NASCAR president Steve O\u2019Donnell on his podcast, it emerged that change is coming.<\/p>\n

In 2026, NASCAR is set to increase the horsepower available on all courses under 1.5 miles in length, along with the five road courses, to 750. This will ultimately impact 17 tracks in total, although according to some, including Kyle Larson, it likely won\u2019t make a noticeable difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR means everything to him. But as a result, his passion for improvement and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,112523,14056,2332,634,35802,112524,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-238700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cars-tour","11":"tag-dale-earnhardt-jr","12":"tag-motorsport-section","13":"tag-nascar","14":"tag-nascar-criticism","15":"tag-playoff-format-debate","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}