Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to a ‘wild’ claim about the Daytona International Speedway

Former NASCAR Cup Series star driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently reacted to a wild claim about the Firecracker 400 held at Daytona International Speedway. Dale Jr. reshared a post originally posted by stock car journalist Jay Coker featuring an article about the track written by Ed Hilton in 1983.

The debut race was held in 1959 and was initially named the Firecracker 250. Later in 1963, the name was changed to Firecracker 400, and Fireball Roberts won the 400-mile race while driving a Ford for Holman-Moody. The race name was later changed to Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 in 1969 and then Pepsi Firecracker 400 in 1985. Three years later, it was changed to Pepsi 400 in 1989 and finally to Coke Zero 400 in 2008.

Following that, the article highlights a genius strategy followed by the officials for the Firecracker 400. Despite waiting for the traditional race time, 1 p.m., the officials kicked off the race early at 10 a.m. The article mentions that this strategic move helped the stock car racing association wrap up the race before the thunderstorm hit the track.

This left the former Xfinity Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. in awe, and he wrote on X:

"This article claims that the Firecracker 400 (with its original 10am start time) had never been rained out in the first 24 years! Wild."

This year's Coke Zero Sugar 400 is scheduled for August 23, 2025, at the Florida-based Daytona International Speedway. Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90, and MAX will broadcast the season's last race before the playoffs at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave his take on a NASCAR fan's 'wrong approach' to Daytona and Talladega

In the latest episode of the 'Dale Jr. Download' podcast on YouTube, former Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded to a fan's idea of not racing at Daytona and Talladega twice a year. However, Dale Jr. was not in favor of the idea and had a different approach.

The Kannapolis native pointed out that deserting a track is not the answer, and the racing should be improved. He further explained [22:50]:

“My opinion to that would be we make a lot of mistakes by leaving racetracks because the racing isn't good. That is the wrong approach. You should make the racing better, not leave the track. Them two tracks right there are quite unique and very historic.”

The fan raised his concern after the multiple-car pile-up at Atlanta Motor Speedway happened on June 28, 2025. More than half of the drivers got involved in the crash initiated by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin. Fortunately, all the drivers involved in the wreck on lap 69 escaped the wreck without any major injuries.

Following the same, NASCAR will return to Daytona International Speedway on August 23 and Talladega Superspeedway for the YellaWood 500 on October 19, 2025. Over the weekends, NASCAR will host the Xfinity Series races as well.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s co-owned team, JR Motorsports, will feature three entries, including the defending champion Justin Allgaier in the #40 Chevy, Connor Zilisch in the #88, and Caron Kvapil driving the #1 car for the team.