Dale Earnhardt Jr. Finds Support from Kenny Wallace About NASCAR Format Change

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kenny Wallace

The debate surrounding the NASCAR Cup Series championship format has reached the high table with strong opinions coming from the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chase Elliott. While Junior is okay with adopting the Chase format again, he does not think that NASCAR will ever go back to a full-season points championship. Former driver Kenny Wallace agreed with this for the most part.

He spoke about Junior’s words on his YouTube channel and detailed why he couldn’t get behind the idea of going back to the Chase format. Junior had replied on X to a fan asking if he would be okay with returning to the Chase format, “Sure. 10 drivers, 10 races. Or 6 drivers and 6 races. Or 5 and 5, or 4 and 4. All those sound good. Just a regular season and a final round.”

Wallace said in response, “​​I’ve always thought one race is not good to determine a championship.” He then used the example of Kyle Larson’s championship victory at Phoenix in 2021 to make his case that it isn’t decided until the last minute who the champion will be. Keeping things as they are is something that a select few in the racing community stand for.

Most recently, journalist Danielle Trotta faced major backlash for arguing that NASCAR should move forward, and not backward by going back to the old full-season points championship. This was not appreciated by droves of fans, as well as by the iconic Mark Martin, who has been the loudest voice for change on this issue. Amid all the chaos, Elliott, too, has a strong opinion.

Which championship format does Elliott desire?

This entire discussion stemmed from a question about the championship format debate that veteran reporter Jeff Gluck had asked Elliott. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was crystal clear on the stand that he favored a full-season points format akin to how it had been decades ago.

He said, “The system would be just fine if you just had a full season. And if somebody runs away with it, so what? Let’s celebrate the fact that somebody ran away with it, that somebody was just that good. Motorsports does not have to be like everybody else to be successful. And I’ll stand by that till I get done.”

Elliott is a big name to have in one’s corner in such matters. After all, he is the most popular driver in the sport and carries a lot of authority. Hopefully, the sanctioning body will deliver some key changes in the 2026 season.

Post Edited By: Abhishek Ramesh
Chase Elliott Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kenny Wallace

About the author

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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