Mike Davis, the co-host of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s podcast show, the Dale Jr. Download, and a big part of his media empire, recently went on a rant against all the things which are being said about NASCAR. After last Sunday’s Cup race at COTA, which had a couple of former F1 champions taking part in it and then calling out certain things about it, many in the NASCAR world proposed a few changes as they reacted to the feedback from the outsiders.

But for Davis, that’s just not right.

Earnhardt Jr’s co-host emphasized that not only should NASCAR focus on its own identity and its own product, but it should accept who they are, and how racing is in its world.

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s co-host defends NASCAR from recent scrutiny

In a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt opened up on the embarrassing race in COTA. And after he shared his thoughts, Davis reacted to him by admitting that the race did get silly in the end. But he wasn’t “embarrassed by it.”

He then touched upon the forgettable races in the last few weeks and the call to change many are making.

“I go back to Vegas or Phoenix, and I’m thinking, ‘Man, without a green-white-checkered restart, those races are as forgettable as they come,” Davis described. “I’m listening to all these drivers talking, I’m listening to Denny (Hamlin) and everybody’s talking about, ‘Maybe we should go single file restarts at the end,’ or ‘maybe we should get away with a green-white-checkered,’ and all that stuff.”

“I’m just like, ‘Wait a second.’ Who are we trying to be in NASCAR? Like, what is our identity? Can’t we just be something that we are and not feel like we have to go mirror other racing series?”

“Maybe we are the ones who fight at the end of the party, maybe we are more physical, that’s what we’ve always been. We’re the bumper cars,” he claimed.

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F1 drivers better be prepared for NASCAR’s “more physical” racing, Davis claims

Davis argued that drivers like Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button when they come to NASCAR, they have to be prepared for the certainly different type of racing they’ll experience. “You’re gonna roll up your sleeves a little bit more than what you would do in your own series,” he added.

“Of course, this is NASCAR.”

Junior’s co-host added that he enjoys the fact that NASCAR is more physical even though he understands the drivers get “cranky about it.” 

“That’s also part of the entertainment value for me. You can be hypocritical and we can sit there and scrutinize that,” he reasoned.

“But the fact is, you better roll up your sleeves when you come to NASCAR because by God that’s what we are.”

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