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NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. has confessed to not being an ardent fan of road course racing as he weighed in on the newfound hype around the road courses.
The first road course race on the 2024 NASCAR schedule was recently completed at the Circuit of the Americas. William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports swept the field for his second win of the season. The first triumph came at the season-opener Daytona 500.
The 68-lap EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix was the first race since the 2019 Cup Series stint at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to witness a caution-free run. The hype around road-course racing is growing in the stock-car world, but NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemingly isn't a fan of the big inclusion of road-course racing.
The current year has four road tracks; COTA, Sonoma Raceway (June 9), Watkins Glen International (September 15), and Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL (October 13).
Dale Earnhardt Jr. outlined the massive influx of road courses in the NASCAR schedule compared to the racing days in the eighties when the Riverside International Raceway was the only road course on the roster. He shared his thought process (via The Dale Jr. Download podcast on Dirty Mo Media):
"I don't tune in...I'm not looking forward at the schedule I'm going, 'When is the next road course? You know?' One was enough back when we just raced at the Riverside in the eighties. That was plenty."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. unfurls his disappointment with the massive track penalties slapped on drivers
The weekend at COTA was fraught with problems, as several drivers were penalized on the track. The 3.426-mile track saw 36 track-limit offenses, with 16 in the Xfinity Series race and 20 in the Truck Series race.
One of the most affected drivers was arguably Shane van Gisbergen, who, despite finishing P2 in the race, settled his run at a dismal P27 spot. The reason was his misaligned move over Austin Hill, who led the field until the final lap but missed out on the victory due to SVG's wreck.
Another victim was a part of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team, JR Motorsports Xfinity Series driver Brandon Jones. His stage win got seized due to the track-limit penalty. The 49-year-old was clearly unhappy with the barrage of penalties imposed, following which he vented his frustration, saying (via X):
"It’s ok to love Nascar and hate track limits at the same time. This is also a good lesson in learning to control (my) anger and frustration."
