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JOLIET, IL – JULY 15: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Insurance/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, puts in his earpiece in the garage area during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing at Chicagoland Speedway on July 15, 2015 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)
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JOLIET, IL – JULY 15: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Insurance/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, puts in his earpiece in the garage area during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing at Chicagoland Speedway on July 15, 2015 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)
In his Dale Jr Download podcast, ex NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr spoke about the Xfinity Series. He was worried about the identity of NASCAR’s second-tier of racing. He confessed that he found the Portland race surprisingly exciting, especially when the heavens opened. However, he was concerned about what purpose the Xfinity Series served in NASCAR as a whole.
He said, “The bigger concern is the identity of the series. We went to the Next Gen car (Cup) and the Truck Series is important to NASCAR because its trucks. The manufacturers want to sell trucks, and so the Truck Series still matters to Chevrolet or Toyota.”
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“Whereas the Xfinity Series doesn’t have that identity, doesn’t have that connection to manufacturers as it once did.”
What else did Dale Earnhardt Jr say about the Xfinity Series?
According to him, it was ‘cool’ to see the Camaro’s and other muscle cars out on track. However, the Xfinity Series was never really that important, especially when compared to the Cup and Truck Series. As the owner of a NASCAR Xfinity Series team, namely JR Motorsports, this is very important to Dale Jr.
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He insisted that it would be interesting to see where the series sees itself in the next five years. Then, Dale Earnhardt Jr began throwing out suggestions, like the series going the electric route. Maybe it can act as a guinea pig for electric stock car racing before the Cup Series has a stab at electric racing.
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AVONDALE, AZ – JANUARY 31: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. addresses the media during NASCAR testing at Phoenix International Raceway on January 31, 2017 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
Dale Jr is confident that the series is not going to stagnate, but changes will come in the future. For the moment, he is adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach.
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READ MORE: Kenny Wallace Reveals How Dale Earnhardt Jr “Shocked” Him After His Threat to Quit Social Media
Hopefully, NASCAR will take notes and actually make a few decisions to make the Xfinity Series relevant once again. Until then, it will continue to be a feeder series for the Cup Series. Or it could even be a chance for drivers who can’t win Cup titles, to win Xfinity titles.
