Dale Earnhardt Jr. Argues Against AJ Foyt Being in the NASCAR Hall of Fame

AJ Foyt, a trailblazer from the 1960s who competed in multiple disciplines, from open-wheel to stock cars, has tasted success in motorsports across the world. In NASCAR, though, he never truly climbed the summit. Despite that, he received a nomination for induction into the Hall of Fame. Twice, that too.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was inducted into the HoF in the 2021 class, doesn’t approve of Foyt’s nomination. On the Dale Jr. Download podcast, he insisted that the majority of the community would agree with his opinion on Foyt.

The stats don’t favor Foyt to begin with. He started in 128 Cup Series races across his career from 1963 to 1994, and secured seven wins and nine poles in that stretch. His biggest moment was a Daytona 500 win in 1972. Junior, however, doesn’t think these numbers warrant a spot among the sport’s greatest ever, just as William Byron’s don’t, even though he has achieved more.

“I think a lot of people just say, he’s one of the greatest drivers ever, and he races with us [at NASCAR],” Dale Jr. began. “I’m not sure I agree with that… AJ came at times, had success, and won. But there were also times when he was cantankerous and difficult, and problematic.” 

Junior also explained that championships aside, Foyt never elevated NASCAR. He came to try and win, but never impacted the sport positively like some others without championship wins (like Dale Jr. himself) have done in the past.

“It doesn’t weigh a ton into my decision, but I do weigh… were they problematic? Did they create issues? Were they in trouble? Did they tear us down? Did they lift us up? Did they go around talking about how much freaking badass it is to race in NASCAR? Were they a person who talked positively about it?” Dale Jr. added, 

Foyt, who is 91 years old, was nominated for the Hall of Fame in the classes of 2023 and 2024. But he never got his induction. He was also named as one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.

As a seven-time USAC champion and a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Foyt deserves to be placed in the highest echelons when it comes to global motorsports. But as far as the NASCAR Hall of Fame is concerned, there are plenty of other names that deserve to be ahead of him.