“Why mess with a good thing?” Bob Pockrass’s verdict of the Rockingham race was simple. Last weekend, NASCAR returned to the 0.94-mile D-shaped oval track after 12 years. The resurrection efforts proved fruitful as both Trucks and Xfinity delivered superb races. In Xfinity, Sammy Smith clinched the shock win after Jesse Love was disqualified. Despite his own driver’s good fortune, Dale Earnhardt Jr. agreed with Pockrass and preferred to keep The Rock’s influence limited.

The race cars in the three NASCAR national series differ widely. The most jaw-dropping difference is between the Next-Gen car in the Cup Series and the Xfinity car. The aerodynamic disparity makes both vehicles react differently to racetracks, which is why Dale Earnhardt Jr. was pessimistic.

Well, last Saturday’s race featured multiple thrilling storylines. The North Carolina Education Lottery 250 race witnessed 14 cautions over 83 laps. Nine yellow flags were waved in the final stage. Despite this chaotic situation, drivers carved out marvelous performances that were unexpected. Parker Retzlaff clinched his first career top-five finish after overcoming technical issues in stage 2.

His Alpha Prime Racing teammate, Brennan Poole, leaped from a 28th-place finish to 5th (became 4th after Love’s DQ). Then Dean Thompson scored the first-ever stage win for Sam Hunt Racing in Stage 2. These stories of success enthralled the fans and Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, the JR Motorsports owner did not show a thumbs-up to the prospects of expansion.

During the NASCAR Cup Series’ last outing at Bristol Motor Speedway, there was chaos. After a high tire-wear situation in practice, all teams prepared accordingly for the race. But all the strategies flipped again when drivers realized 50 laps into the race that Goodyear’s tires are not working. Therefore, the typical difficulty in passing was visible in the Next-Gen car all over again. With this lack of predictability in Cup cars, Dale Earnhardt Jr laid down his verdict about Rockingham in a recent episode of the Dale Jr Download. “My thought is that this might not need to be a Cup race. I’m sure people are clamoring to see Cup go back there, but the way the Cup car races, isn’t it funny? Like we’re sitting here and going, ‘Yeah, this is the first time I’ve ever experienced this’.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on to explain that Rockingham Speedway may be too tricky for the Next-Gen car. “At that racetrack, there’s really nowhere to go to get clean air…the entrance into 1 is a bit narrow and odd. The exit of 2 is tight. The wall jumps out at you…In the Next-Gen car, you really can’t run behind another car. You can’t be fast and running…The lead car’s got a lot of grip, but also you need that air going underneath your car to get to the diffuser…How are you going to do that, running around the racetrack at Rockingham?” So the veteran emphasized his conclusion yet again: “I’m excited for the Xfinity and Trucks to go there again, but I’m not eager to see a Cup race there.”

Rockingham Speedway president and CEO of Track Enterprises, Bob Sargent, had a wholly different view, though. Sargent was overly enthusiastic about the Cup Series coming to ‘The Rock.’ Sargent said more people concur with him, “I’m pretty hands-on, so I talked to them from Thursday night, when we got here, to all day today. Talked to a lot of different people at NASCAR, whether they were here or weren’t here.“Older, veteran drivers that I got relationships with, they were texting me, calling me. And then again, the sponsors who were here, I talked with them all day long. The fans. The officials. My workers. A lot of positives from everybody.”

However, fans are siding with their hero of the sport. After all, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s views about the Next-Gen car are widely shared.

NASCAR fans nod their heads in agreement

Ever since the Next-Gen car debuted in 2022, controversy has been the name of the game. Ranging from safety concerns that led to career-derailing concussions to short-track package issues, problems sprang up like wild weeds. Although some improvement is visible in 2025, with race leaders like Christopher Bell or Denny Hamlin figuring out innovative ways around the limiting cars, one fan flatly denied the Next-Gen car. “Honestly, the next-gen car is actually ruined. NASCAR completely has ruined all the races doesn’t matter which one you’re at.” 

Dale Earnhardt Jr., a 26-time Cup Series race winner and an Xfinity team owner, is likely to know the pulse of the situation. What is more, the veteran keeps a close tab on the popular opinions about the sport. So a fan lauded Dale Jr’s own opinion: “You know what I hear in this clip? Dale Jr has been reading people’s X posts. 👍🏽”

Others continued to pile up criticism of NASCAR’s innovation. During the Cup Series race in Bristol last year, NASCAR stumbled upon a solution to fix its short-track problem – high-wear Goodyear tires. They entrusted the tire brand with the job of repeating that thrilling race. Although improvement was visible in tracks like Phoenix or Richmond, Bristol never resumed its form. So one fan wrote, “What a shame the Next Gen is such a turd we are afraid to take it somewhere to race. It’s a valid concern, but there doesn’t seem any urgency to fix it. NASCAR keeps begging Goodyear to put Band-Aids on the problem, but it’s not being fixed.” Somebody else brought up the age-old debate around horsepower. A key feature of the Next-Gen is reduced hp – 670 hp, to be precise. One fan demanded that to rise: “Well, yes, but we need more horsepower @nascar.”

Another fan completely agreed with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s suggestion. Instead of venturing into the Cup Series immediately, Rockingham Speedway can get comfortable with Trucks and Xfinity first. They wrote, “IMO. Let Xfinity and Trucks continue at the Rock. They deserve to be the featured event at a location where the race is well attended and appreciated! Let this grow for a while before Cup is scheduled.”

Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and fans are not in favor of Rockingham’s expansion into NASCAR’s top tier. Let us see how the track owner or the sanctioning body reacts to this.