Dale Earnhardt Jr. is extremely connected to NASCAR. Despite retiring from full-time racing in 2018, Hall of Fame Member has remained involved in sports as an announcer with NBC’s coverage and on his weekly podcast the Dale Jr. Download.
On this last point, he sometimes drops nuggets of information that cannot be found anywhere else. This happened recently when he was asked a question about the Xfinity Series and his lack of identity. Junior’s response completely took everyone in the studio by surprise.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Reveals NASCAR Talked About SUV Racing
Dale Earnhardt Jr. interviews some of the biggest names in motorsports on his podcast, exploring and finding answers to questions fans have been asking for years. But it’s during the “Ask Jr.” portion of the podcast where the tables are turned and fans ask him to answer questions. Sometimes, his answers include a bit of current events.
This came up during a recent episode when a fan asked him about the Xfinity Series, its lack of identity, which Earnhardt had mentioned several weeks earlier, and the changes he would make. Daytona 500 WinnerThe response provided shocking news that surprised everyone in the studio.
“The Xfinity Series, Truck Series and Cup Series have to be important to the manufacturer,” Earnhardt said. “The Truck Series is important to the manufacturer because it’s trucks. The Cup Series is important because it’s the elite series and it sells sedans.
“The Xfinity Series has kind of outlived its usefulness. What’s the purpose of the series for the manufacturer? The pony car concept was cool for a while, but the manufacturers are clearly not ready to sell pony cars every year. They can sell them any time, whether it’s the Camaro, the Mustang or whatever. I don’t think the Xfinity Series has a huge impact on car sales in that market. The manufacturers have to have a bigger goal or a specific goal for them to want the Xfinity Series to be there.”
He then created a hypothesis about what might happen with the series using the show’s producer Matthew Dilner as an example.
“Let’s see what this series can do for Matthew Motors,” he said. “If Matthew Motors needs to sell six-cylinder cars, then maybe that’s what the Xfinity Series should be. Maybe it’s four-cylinders. I don’t know. Whatever it takes. SUVs. I’ve heard NASCAR throw that idea around.”
“What?” asked co-host Mike Davis.
“Yes,” Earnhardt confirmed. “No kidding, right? Oh my God. I don’t want to have a store full of SUV race cars.”
Earnhardt unhappy with past changes to NASCAR
Earnhardt talking about NASCAR’s changes and identity is nothing new. Late last year, on an episode of his podcast, he talked about the playoffs and how NASCAR has been changing the format on a regular basis, creating an identity crisis.
“When we started something new with this playoffs, we had no brand continuity. No identity,” Earnhardt said. “The playoffs kept changing. And the way they were run kept changing. And the number of people we had to bring in kept changing.”
“It was very, very frustrating. I lost a lot of pride in it. I lost the importance of it. I lost a lot of faith in it. My passion for the game and my love for it kind of waned in those moments when the playoffs kept bouncing around.”
Eventually, NASCAR stopped changing the playoff format, and it has remained stable since 2017. Earnhardt acknowledged he was happy with the continuity that has been established.
Could this really happen?
Earnhardt’s comments about NASCAR considering a racing series featuring SUVs seem far-fetched. But the fact that officials have broached the subject suggests that, while it may seem far-fetched, it is a topic of conversation.
One has to imagine that there was a similar exploratory meeting with executives in the not-so-distant past, when someone brought up the random idea of running a road trip through the streets of Chicago.
And here we are.
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