The inaugural race of the 2023 Cup Series gave the fans some intriguing moments, with Rick Stenhouse Jr shockingly winning the race in the second overtime. However, the overcrowding of the ads during the Daytona 500 left the fans frustrated, with FOX Sports and NASCAR having to face their angst.

However, two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr disagreed with the people protesting the ad overload after being driven “crazy” by the “flat” commercial rate.

Dale Jr recently joined “The Dale Jr. Download” podcast alongside co-host Steve Letarte. The two-time Busch Series champ recently addressed the commercial overload controversy while expressing his disapproval of the criticism.

Junior’s divisive take on commercial overload

In the recent iteration of “The Dale Jr. Download” podcast, NBC’s NASCAR sportscaster Dale Earnhardt Jr recently stated that he had a different opinion about the commercial overload during the Daytona 500, as he understood the commercial aspect of NASCAR a bit differently than the spectators, given his experience of being in the booth. Moreover, the 48-year-old believed that the Great American Race might have been subjected to “frontloading.”

Further, Junior stated, “A lot of times, we may try to frontload the commercials in the first stage. That gives us a chance to say at the end, ‘Heyy man! For the last 20 laps, we’re gonna stick around.’ And so, I thought, that’s what they were doing. Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t.”

The veteran driver was especially surprised by one particular commercial aspect. Dale Jr said, “I would have never guessed that the commercial rate was flat from 2001 to 2010 to 2023.” While drawing context from an informal graph about commercial breaks, Dale Jr shared that there were 19, 20, and 23 breaks during the Daytona 500 in 2001, 2010, and 2023 respectively. He also indicated that the number of green laps missed this year was much lower than it was in 2001.

READ MORE: “They Get a Lot of Bills Paid”: Amid Fan Hate, Denny Hamlin Passionately Defends NASCAR From Criticism of Commercials

He added, “I mean it’s, anyways, the point is that it was flat. One of the things that drive me crazy and I feel like I can say this without getting in too much trouble. So, the amount of commercials to me, doesn’t bother me one bit.”

The Cup Series veteran clarified that it was his personal opinion. He also believed that the overcrowding of the commercials also depicted the significance of the Daytona 500 in the Cup Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr defends the broadcasters

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Dale Jr laid out that commercials were a necessary evil for NASCAR as they were key to getting funds for hosting the expensive races. Moreover, the #88 Chevy driver also claimed that the number of commercials and their placement did not frustrate him one bit. He said, “I didn’t think I was missing much when the commercials would come on now. Of course, we did have that one crash that happened during, the side-by-side, which is unfortunate and it happens all the time.”

Moreover, he also stressed that the broadcasters take opinions from the sportscasters in the booth about the placement of the commercials and try their best to avoid any ads in the middle of spectacular moments during the race.