It would be fairly easy to spot the winner on pit road after a Cup Series race. He would be the one with the biggest grin on his face. Unfortunately, not every driver will be as happy. Corey LaJoie reiterated this on his X handle recently by posting a video of Dale Earnhardt going on an extensive rant about NASCAR’s racing product during the 2000 Daytona 500.
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The promotion introduced new shock absorber rules that mandated standard shocks and springs for all the competitors. On the facade, this was done to reduce costs and increase driver comfort. But everyone knew that the core motive was to slow the cars down for safety reasons. Earnhardt, being the speedster he is, did not take well to the change.
The footage showed the Intimidator seething, “That’s the worst racing that I’ve seen at Daytona in a long, long time. They took NASCAR Winston Cup Racing and made it some of the sorriest racing. They took racing out of the drivers’ and the crews’ hands… We can’t adjust. We can’t make our cars drive like we want. They just killed the racing at Daytona.”
Another factor that caused his temper to rise was the redesigned Chevrolet Monte Carlo he drove and the partially redesigned Ford Tauruses he raced against. The Fords had an aerodynamic advantage and ended up securing six of the top ten qualifying positions in the time trials. The Twin 125-mile qualifying races burst the bottle open.
Maybe, just maybe, all of our subjective hopes and expectations for “good racing” have never nor will ever be met.
Because no matter what, there will only be one happy guy leaving the track any given Sunday. I bet @DaleJarrett thought the racing was great that day. https://t.co/U2mp2a8MYO— Corey LaJoie (@CoreyLaJoie) February 18, 2025
Earnhardt arrived in front of the media and let himself loose. He concluded his speech, “Mr. Bill France Sr. probably roll over in his grave if he seen that deal!” His teammate Mike Skinner picked up to deliver his share of criticism. He noted, “I heard a lot of people snoring up there [in the grandstands].”
The expectation after the qualifying disaster was for the Daytona 500 to be different. But it turned out to be more of the same, and Dale Jarrett ended up taking his Ford Taurus to Victory Lane. The 2000 Daytona 500 is remembered today as one of the most boring editions of the Great American Race.
This visit back to the yesteryear is highly relevant today, as LaJoie pointed out. Not every driver can leave a race without complaints. And the discontent with NASCAR continues to be the most consistent element in the sport. One can only listen to the words of former crew chief Larry McReynolds about the 1999 race in Talladega and draw parallels.
He said, “At Talladega last race [in 1999], you didn’t even need seats up in the grandstand because the people didn’t use them. You needed cots up there today because people wanted to go to sleep.” It won’t take long to find arguments that the current racing product is equally boring, if not more. Such is the nature of professional racing.
Jeff Gordon jumped to NASCAR’s defense after the 2025 Daytona 500
Ryan Preece suffered a terrible wreck in the ending laps of the Daytona 500. His car went airborne before flipping in the air, and landing on its wheels. While he was cleared in the infield medical center, he still had bloodshot eyes that showcased the intensity of the accident that he’d been in.
Speaking to the press later, he issued a stark warning to the promotion. He noted that the sport was on the brink of tragedy and that someone might not always be able to walk away from such accidents. In response to his words, Jeff Gordon defended the promotion and lauded the efforts that it has been making to ensure driver safety.
He said, “I know NASCAR always is looking at those incidents and trying to figure out what they can do better to keep the cars on the ground.” He added how every move from introducing restrictor plates to pack racing has been aimed at protecting the men behind the wheel.
