Dale Earnhardt Jr and Mark Martin Join Fans in Calling Out NASCAR for Changing One Crucial Aspect of Historic Race

NASCAR turns 75 in the coming year; a lot has changed from when it started in 1948 to how it is now. Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent 19 years driving in the Cup Series, and a lot more following it. He has witnessed a lot of these changes over the course of his career.

Undoubtedly, the biggest change that NASCAR saw was the points system. Earlier, the winner of the Cup Series was the driver that had scored the most points at the end of all races; simple and straightforward.

Then NASCAR introduced the playoff system in 2004, which intended to create a final push for the Championship between the primary contenders. Originally introduced solely for the Cup Series, they slowly expanded it to include the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series as well.

As a result of the difference in systems, the 2017 season had two Champions – one Cup Series Champion and one Regular Series Champion. The latter was the driver who had the highest points heading into the Playoff.

Similarly, the Clash – the first race of the season – was massively overhauled in 2022. The historical event was, for the first time, shifted out of Daytona; They shifted it to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Moreover, they also opened it up to all teams and drivers. This was a big change from earlier when the race used to only be for drivers who had won, at least, one pole in the previous season.

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While change is crucial for sports to stay relevant for their fans, all these changes beg one question – is NASCAR going against the important rule of “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”?

Fans find their voice in Dale Earnhardt Jr

Only recently, fans had voiced their disapprobation against NASCAR for the unnecessary chopping and changing it carried out with the Busch Clash. But on a completely distinct note, Dale Jr. also raised an issue against NASCAR.

Fans agreed with him fully. Here are some of their tweets –

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Is NASCAR taking too many risks with its fans? A middle ground needs to be found quickly!