“Would tear this car apart”: Dale Jr. delivers hard-hitting verdict on NASCAR’s NextGen car

Former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his emotions about the NextGen cars on the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast. During the podcast, Earnhardt Jr. claimed to build the car from scratch, removing all unnecessary parts.

Generation Seven has been a topic of debate among fans and enthusiasts since its debut in the 2022 season at the Daytona 500. The cars are packed with a 5.86-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine paired with a five-speed sequential gearbox. Additionally, the Gen-7 cars weigh over 3,000 lbs with fuel and the driver.

Dale Jr. hasn't been impressed with the NextGen vehicles, though. He pointed out that teams could remove all unnecessary items and use a specialized Gen-7 car for short-track racing. However, the NASCAR teams could use the complex version for mile-and-a-half ovals and superspeedways. Following that, he said [19:00 onwards]:

"Um, I’ll be honest, like this car. You know, I’ve talked in length about this car on this show. Things about the car physically that I just don’t think belong on it, right? The underbody and all of that stuff... I would, dude. I would really tear this car apart and strip it down: do you need this? Do you need that?"

"Especially, maybe, I would not touch it in its current form for, like, the mile-and-a-halfs and stuff. Maybe a couple things could change as you go forward, but like for the car I’m going to take to Martinsville, it would be like the unplugged version, you know—instead of the full band, it’d be the unplugged version of the Next Gen," he added.

Dale Jr. focused on following a basic approach to help drivers have better control over the car. However, NASCAR announced it would increase the horsepower of the generation seven car for the 2026 season. In the next season, for selected tracks, the NextGen car will feature 750 horsepower.

---

"I would just disagree that": Dale Jr. got candid about Kyle Petty's take on Gen-7 cars

In a previous episode of the same podcast aired in August 2025, Dale Jr. opened up about Kyle Petty's take on the NextGen cars. On the podcast, Earnhardt Jr. claimed that he disagrees with the former Cup Series driver's approach towards the Gen-7 cars.

The show's co-host, TJ Majors, highlighted that Richard Petty's son claimed that the cars have been delivering satisfying results and feel "good" on the race tracks. However, the JR Motorsports co-owner flatly disagrees with his claim and pointed out that the cars are not up to his expectations.

In response to this, Dale Jr. stated:

"I don't know, man. I mean, Kyle's Kyle has Uh, Kyle. I really, really respect Kyle. Think the world of him. Um, and I appreciate his opinion, but I would just disagree that the car doesn't produce what I expect. Again, going back to 75 years. I know Kyle's been around a long time. The car doesn't produce the kind of racing that I know we are capable of at road courses and short tracks."

Dale Jr. claimed all the added features, like the diffuser, low-profile tires, large brakes, and minimal tire wear, make it a "sports car" rather than a traditional stock car. On the other hand, Kyle Petty beleives the NASCAR cars haven't been stock since 1958.