Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the most popular and influential NASCAR figures around the world. He won the Cup Series Most Popular Driver award 15 times over his remarkable career and remains to hold his sway over fans even years after his retirement. But all this popularity and respect might not account for much when he goes to NASCAR’s headquarters in Daytona Beach.
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NASCAR recently got into a load of trouble when private texts from 2023 between top executives, Steve Phelps and Brian Herbst, got leaked. They had spoken derogatorily about team owner Richard Childress and crossed many lines they should not have. In light of the same comes the realization that not even the most popular personality in the sport might be safe from such attacks.
Former driver Kenny Wallace was recently engaged in a conversation with Chase Holden. He spoke about how Dale Jr. had told him on his YouTube show a few years back that he is always in trouble with NASCAR and is constantly trying to make up with them for something he had said or done. Wallace hadn’t understood the exact predicament back then, but he does now.
He said, “He [Dale Jr.] goes, ‘I’m always in trouble with NASCAR. I’m always trying to make up. I always feel like I’m in trouble with them.’ So, now after all this comes out, I know what he’s talking about. He was telling the truth on Kenny Conversation. He can do all that good but what he was saying that day none of us could believe. He probably had his a** chewed out a lot by NASCAR.”
“So, he probably feels like he’s never good enough for NASCAR. Ain’t that a shame?”
Dale Jr. doesn’t approve of permanent charters
Dale Jr. is someone with the ability to sway the opinions of fans. It is why NASCAR puts a lot of value on his words and gives him a hard time over his outbursts. But seldom does that stop him from expressing what he thinks is right.
Earlier this week, he painted a picture of the dark reality that would come to pass if Cup Series charters were made permanent. He detailed that the sport would basically then have 36 franchises that will sell and trade entities between themselves for decades or even centuries.
He added, “They’ll be a gigantic barrier of entry. As we’ve known racing for 75 years, if you wanted to build a Cup car and show up at a race and try to compete, you did. Probably not gonna go all that well, you’re gonna compete against the regular teams and that’s what it was, but you could. That’ll be gone forever.”
NASCAR reached a settlement with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports on Thursday and a part of the agreement are permanent charters. Whether the promotion goes after Dale Jr. for commenting negatively about their latest move remains to be seen.
