As Nascar Continues to Grow, Dale Earnhardt Jr Expresses His Concern Over the Relevance of Historical Racetracks

Dale Earnhardt Jr actively supports the preservation of tracks and their history. Having watched his father, the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr, dominate on the asphalt since childhood, he understands the place of a track in NASCAR’s history. And when it comes to the evolution of NASCAR, it has been one big ride. Cars, tracks, guidelines, and drivers keep changing in the sport with time. But no one fails to leave an impression on the community.

Racetracks in general are held in special regard by fans and drivers alike. Memorable wins, unfortunate crashes, and thrilling finishes—NASCAR venues stand witness to it all. But with the change in scenario, some tracks have started to lose their importance. After Monday’s race in New Hampshire, Dale Earnhardt feels a responsibility of reminding the fans and followers of the sport about preserving the iconic venues.

Dale Jr thinks historical racetracks have started losing their value

Speaking about the recent race at NHMS, Dale Jr saw something he was quite unaware of during the Monday race. Hampshire provided the drivers with a good amount of width and multiple grooves that helped them take the best route at a turn. A groove is the easiest way to navigate around the track for a driver. This was one of the reasons we saw great racing action after a delay due to rain.

“By the end of the race, the whole field’s now running in this fourth groove, on turns three and four particularly. Way up the racetrack, and if you wanted to try the bottom, you could; some guys still did. Even running on the apron at times off turn two. So really, there were five lanes of asphalt getting used at this racetrack. I never, I would’ve lost the bet if we had to make a guess on how many grooves and asphalt they have been using in the corners.”

Junior also has a strong view of people getting attracted to street race courses over iconic tracks in the schedule, like New Hampshire. He also highlights the need for such tracks to be preserved for the future, not just for racing but for their cultural impact as a venue for NASCAR races.

“I mean, I can’t tell you how cool that is for New Hampshire, for that track. They’ve needed a boost if you will. In terms of you know, maintaining their sort of role in the series and maintaining their place in the schedule. Now the schedule’s so malleable and there’s like, Oh man street races, that was great, let’s do more of those.“

The Chicago Street Race was a statement of intent if anything. Shane Van Gisbergen not only made it a historical win but will always be remembered in the history of NASCAR’s street race course.

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“Makes me wanna go back”: Dale Earnhardt Jr emphasizes the gravity of NHMS

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Earnhardt’s contribution and energy during the renovation of North Wilkesboro is proof enough that he is willing to take the actions required for his initiative. The NWBS not just got a whole new breath of fresh air after not hosting a Cup race for more than two decades, but it also delivered a great All-Star Race for a jam-packed speedway.

“You know now that everybody is probably calling NASCAR going, can you come here, can you come race here? The tracks like New Hampshire man, they gotta be guarded. They got to be sure about their footing in their roots. This race past weekend makes me wanna go back there next year.” claimed Dale Jr.

“I was happy to see that. That’s three years, I’m sure maybe more but that’s three solid weekends.”

Speaking about the essence and uniqueness of every racetrack on the schedule, he reveals more details about Jeff Burton’s acquaintance with New Hampshire

“Well, I’ll be honest with you man, Burton’s dominant at New Hampshire. The fun thing for our booth is we all had sort of a specialty or expertise I guess. So, at curtain tracks man, one of us is gonna play a bigger role. And that past weekend was kind of Burton’s track right?

You kind of lay it back and listen to him tell you about why he was so good there. And what the drivers are dealing with and I know what he’s thinking and saying. But coming from him, it carries a lot of weight due to his success there.”

Burton has an impeccable record at the historic venue and owing to this NASCAR also bestowed the privilege of driving the pace car at NHMS. In 39 career starts at NHMS, Burton earned 15 top-10s, 9 top-fives and four wins.

Dale Jr’s affinity towards the preservation of history and culture of the tracks has been quite evident. More recently, he has also shown his support to former Cup champion Joey Logano‘s efforts to revive the “World’s fastest half-mile”, Winchester Speedway. It’s great to see more such initiatives take the same road as NWBS.

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