Amongst the small pool of names that popped in everyone’s heads after NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports announced their Le Mans program for next year was Dale Earnhardt Jr. But unfortunately for his fans, the NASCAR Hall of Famer has ruled out that possibility completely.
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In a recent segment of the Ask Jr. segment of his podcast show, Dale Jr. revealed that he was approached to consider the opportunity to drive in the South of France next year.
“I was asked and I’ll be honest with you, I was asked if I’d be interested in that and by some folks that are involved,” he said.
#AskJr dove into @24hoursoflemans Garage 56.
Was Dale asked? Who would he put in the car?@XfinityRacing | @DaleJr pic.twitter.com/WGOtCUZZJA
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) June 23, 2022
The JR Motorsports owner then went on to describe why he refused the offer.
“I think they need to have drivers in that car that will devote 100% to the effort,” he said. “They’re gonna need a lot of testing. They’re gonna need their drivers willing to do a lot of physical testing but also a lot of sim work.”
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“This is going to be, whoever takes this on will need to be able to commit a big chunk of their time to make it right, and do it well,” he continued.
“I would not be wanting or willing to do all that work.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t want to ruin someone else’s race at Le Mans
The other reason that Dale Earnhardt Jr doesn’t want to drive in Le Mans next year is a really simple one: he could end up causing more harm than good to his and NASCAR’s reputation.
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He described how he is “unaware and uneducated” on the way it’s done properly in an endurance race.
“I’m not gonna be able to learn that and adapt quickly enough to be able to not be able to do a good job with the car, with the team, but also to not impede everything else happening,” he added.
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“The worst thing you can do is to ruin someone else’s day.”