NASCAR’s Cost Cutting Tactics Jeopardizing Drivers Safety Garners Heavy Criticism From Dale Earnhardt Jr

COVID shook up everyone’s world, including NASCAR drivers, affecting their routines both on and off the track. To slash costs back in 2020, NASCAR significantly cut down on practice times for the drivers. What used to be three 50-minute sessions got chopped to just a couple. The move, while cost-effective, might be a tough break for the rookie drivers who need that track time.

Explaining the same on his podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr delved into why he thinks NASCAR should bring back more practice sessions instead of pinching pennies at the rookies’ expense, though he later seemed to sway a bit towards Chase Elliott‘s thoughts on the matter.

In the debate over practice times, Dale Earnhardt Jr emphasizes how it affects rookie drivers

While big names like Brad Keselowski have been pushing the idea for more practice time since 2023, like in the pre-2020 days, drivers from smaller teams such as Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr are against longer sessions. They argue that big teams—like Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports— with more resources can quickly make use of extensive data to tweak their cars, a luxury smaller teams can’t afford.

But Dale Earnhardt Jr brings a different perspective to the table. He’s not buying NASCAR’s cost-saving justification. In his view, the money saved on cutting practice time just ends up being spent elsewhere, like on tires or extra crew. More importantly, he stresses that skimping on practice might cut costs but could compromise rookie drivers’ safety. He pointed out, “It’s [smaller practice sessions] not preferable. It’s still not the way we should do it in my mind.[…] If you save them some money here and saving some money there they’re still going to find a way to spend that dollar.“ 

He further added, “Like I mentioned uh the some of the rookies that are just needing some time. But I feel like that to be able to bring the car into the garage and make significant changes if necessary wholesale and be able to go back out and try that and maybe even a 30 minute break or an hour break to allow a team to to disassemble. However much of the car they want and rescale it and then send it back out for a second practice would be plenty.” 

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s concerns about rookie drivers getting enough practice time are pretty legit, especially when you think about tracks like Texas Motor Speedway. Since it was repaved in 2017, Texas has turned into a bit of a cautionary tale, with bumps on turns 3 and 4 causing cars to spin out left, right, and center. Just the last race, the action was non-stop, and it seemed like the yellow caution lines were practically a blur. Newbies like Kaz Grala especially need to get a feel for such tracks—figuring out the braking points and the right spots to slow down is crucial.

However, Dale’s viewpoint shifted slightly after Chase Elliott chimed in with his thoughts on the matter. Chase’s perspective made Dale Jr reconsider some of his initial viewpoints.

Chase Elliott’s take on short practice sessions makes Junior rethink his stance

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Chase Elliott, despite racing for a powerhouse like Hendrick Motorsports, which can quickly tweak cars between rounds, isn’t all about long practice times. He laid it out pretty clearly, saying, “I think we have enough practice. I certainly can understand their perspective on guys either running a part-time schedule or um people that are running maybe full-time an Xfinity like um like Shane (van Gisbergen) is and then you know running a few Cup races here and there.”

Elliott then drew a comparison to local dirt track racing, where drivers barely get any warm-up before they’re racing for real. He looks at it this way: “I look at short tracks across the country and there’s dirt track races that happen every Friday and Saturday night that they get literally five laps of hot laps and then they run the race. So, I’m like okay we’re supposed to be professionals you know and we’re supposed to be at the top of our class. Why should we get an hour and a half when people that are trying to come up through the ranks only get five laps before the race.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr couldn’t help but be swayed by Elliott’s logic, even chuckling as he said, “Yeah! Hey I like it you’re convincing me to change my opinion.” Well, it’s a tough call, each point made by Dale Jr and Chase Elliott has its merits. What do you think?