Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped a unique take on his August 20 “Dirty Mo Media” podcast that could flip NASCAR’s entire approach to fixing its racing problems. After watching Richmond’s experimental tire compound create the kind of wild, contact-heavy racing that’s been missing for years, the sport’s most influential voice reached a stunning conclusion: maybe it’s not about fixing the NextGen car at all. Maybe it’s all about the tires.
Why Does Dale Earnhardt Jr. Think Tires Matter More Than Car Design?
“The tire may be a bigger part of this than I even realize,” Earnhardt admitted after seeing how Richmond’s softer Goodyear compound completely transformed the racing. The experimental tire delivered 2-2.5 seconds of lap time degradation over a fuel run, bringing back the aggressive, contact-heavy racing that vanished when the NextGen era began.
What got Earnhardt most fired up was watching drivers actually move each other around the track again. He wanted to see drivers “knock them up the track… even if that’s not the wise decision. I want those drivers to be able to make some dumb decisions,” he explained. The Richmond tire package finally made this wild racing possible again.
The perfect example came when Daniel Suarez made contact with Ty Gibbs, sending him into Tyler Reddick. Earnhardt watched with obvious satisfaction as the sequence unfolded, describing how Suarez in the 99 car knocked Gibbs in the 54 up the track and into Reddick’s 45 car. This created exactly the kind of dramatic racing incident he’d been desperately hoping to see return to NASCAR.
This contact racing brought back memories of NASCAR’s golden era, when drivers could physically influence each other’s performance and create the unpredictable moments that made fans jump out of their seats.
What Has Earnhardt So Frustrated About the NextGen Car?
Earnhardt’s enthusiasm for the Richmond tire experiment revealed his deep frustration with the NextGen car’s aerodynamic limitations. He’s consistently complained that the current car design prevents drivers from making the aggressive moves that once defined NASCAR racing.
According to Earnhardt, drivers can no longer drive down into a corner and make contact with another car’s rear bumper to push them up the track. The problem? The trailing car immediately becomes “aero tight” and loses crucial grip. This aerodynamic dependency has essentially eliminated the bumping and grinding style of racing that made NASCAR exciting for decades.
However, there’s a significant obstacle ahead. Goodyear has reached the limits of how soft it can make tires with their current equipment. “What I did hear from Goodyear over the past probably two or three months is that they are pretty much at the end of their rope in terms of how soft they can build this tire until they can retool at the plant,” Earnhardt revealed.
Despite this challenge, Earnhardt sees genuine hope on the horizon. “Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. This is maybe this is the path toward something we can all appreciate,” he concluded, suggesting that tire improvements might be NASCAR’s best shot at restoring authentic racing without scrapping the NextGen car entirely.