“It Would Be Very Tempting” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Gives NASCAR a Million-Dollar Idea

The motorsports market is ever-expanding as it has been since the mid-1900s. Still, a positive development was made in this field this week as the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup cars were tested around the half-mile Martinsville Speedway in an attempt to see if it was feasible to bring the competition to its first-ever oval track. The MX-5 Cup competition has been around for 24 years and heading into an oval for the first time would be a major breakthrough for the IMSA-sanctioned series. There were a couple of NASCAR Hall of Famers who tested the cars at Martinsville, Bobby Labonte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The reaction was positive as Earnhardt Jr said that the cars were “a blast” and everyone who took part in the testing sessions shared the same view. While races have been held recently at the Martinsville road and street courses, the speedway had not seen open-top race cars on its tarmac since the NASCAR Convertible Series in 1959. Earnhardt Jr believes that an MX-5 race at the short track would be exciting for fans and drivers, and would elevate the competition.

The Show Would Be Fantastic, Says Dale Earnhardt Jr

Martinsville already has a fan following among motorsports enthusiasts. Tapping into that market would draw thousands every year and it would be tempting for a lot of drivers to come and race, as per Junior.

When asked if he thought the Martinsville track would be able to put up a good show, the former Cup Series driver said, “The show would be fantastic, you know, I think, it’s already got this cult following in sim racing, in the sim racing world.” 

“The series, in general, is very exciting, well respected, people know when they tune into the MX-5, whether it’s at Daytona or Road America, they’re gonna see a fantastic show and I think that they know and want to see what that might look like on a short track like Martinsville and the sim world has already sort of checked that box and it’s a good thing,” he added.

Perhaps a return of open-top car racing to the Martinsville oval will get some of the older drivers back into action, including Dale Earnhardt Jr, and that is something everyone would absolutely love to see. 

“So, I would be, it would be tempting to wanna come race if they had a race here, it would be very tempting for me and a lot of other people, especially oval racers, to come and be a part of the series if they were to come to Martinsville,” the former Cup Series driver said.

The two-day testing event was a collaborative effort by IMSA, NASCAR, Flis Performance, and Mazda MX-5 Cup. The Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell himself couldn’t resist going around the track for a few laps and he was absolutely chuffed after he got out of the car.

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When asked about the collaboration, according to a report in RACER, Campbell said, “We’ve talked about it for a couple of years, would these be a good fit at Martinsville and we would like to see a test done to find that out.”

“I think it’s just so unique, it’s never been done before. To run at an iconic facility like Martinsville brings something that is traditionally a road course car, it just has everybody pumped,” he added.

Managing partner of Flis Performance, Troy Flis, might have had his doubts before the testing, but he was happy with how things turned out over the course of the two days.

“We were a little bit concerned on how the cars were going to drive, but in realistically two-thirds of a day, the car was dialed in really well…I think they’ll race really well, I’m super excited to see 30 or 35 of these things around Martinsville. It gives our drivers the opportunity to see a different style,” Flis said.

The reactions from the two-day test at the Martinsville have been positive and it seems like fans might get an MX-5 Cup Race at the oval quite soon. Will it be as big a success as the reactions suggest? Let us know what you think.

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