There have been talks and reports in the last few weeks that the Talladega Superspeedway would get the semi-final status in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2025. Currently, the iconic venue hosts the round of 12 race in the playoffs. Talks of it becoming a track for a round of eight fixtures were met with a lot of criticism on social media. However, one man who would be in support of such a decision if it did come to pass is Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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The biggest fear race fans have with Talladega is that it’s unpredictable. It could result in deserving drivers crashing out of the playoffs right before the championship race. Superspeedways are always tough to run on but Junior’s perspective is that the track has been around since 1969. In such a long time, surely teams and drivers have a good idea about racing on the track. He also believes that putting championship-contender drivers in a situation like that would lift the sport’s entertainment factor.
“I know that there’s an 80% chance you’re gonna crash and I know that there are a lot of fluke winners or the potential chance for a long-shot winner. But I don’t think that should scare the industry away from being…throw the drivers right into those difficult scenarios. Throw them into those moments where we want to see them panic,” he explained on his podcast.
The 49-year-old has always been a huge fan of the iconic track that has seen some of the scariest and least predictable moments in the sport’s history. He has been part of some of those moments even. But the playoffs format changes a lot and it can make drivers nervous to run a round of eight race there.
Eminent NASCAR insider slams potential Talladega decision
Veteran motorsports journalist Jeff Gluck is not a big fan of the reports either. There is a lot of unpredictability in NASCAR already. Several deserving race car drivers have not made it to the final four due to the current playoff format.
The semi-final round is the only one where the tracks aren’t so unpredictable and the contenders can have a fair fight to see who is the best — Talladega changes that.
“At least Round 3 of the playoffs has been like this straightforward round. Let’s have the true contenders decide this thing as much as possible. You put Talladega in Round 3? Inserting even more chaos and more unpredictability and the chance that the champion is not going to be the true best driver of the season,” he explained.
It will be interesting to see if NASCAR does stick with the plan of having Talladega in the round of eight in the playoffs. There truly would be utter chaos from drivers desperate to make the final four.
