This past weekend, the Texas Motor Speedway delivered much-needed action after two weeks of rather lackluster racing. The absolute carnage in the Cup and Xfinity series races didn’t just bring relief to fans hoping for better racing, but it also proved to be a golden moment for Chase Elliott, who won his first race since the 2022 season. That said, not everyone believed the racing at Texas Motor Speedway showed signs of returning to its glorious past.
On Dirty Mo Media’s Door Bumper Clear podcast, the hosts proved tough critics of racing in Texas, pointing out room for improvement. However, the boss at Dirty Mo Media wasn’t having any of his employees’ controversial takes.
Dale Earnhardt Jr jumps to Ryan Sieg’s defense with his witty sarcasm
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As NASCAR headed toward sunny Texas, like every time the action seemed to have died down this season, it picked back up just as quickly. And as the Xfinity race came to an end, Sam Mayer’s historic win over Ryan Sieg by 0.002 seconds showed signs of just that. Unlike Atlanta, no late cautions or overtimes played into the photo finish, showcasing how great racing truly was this weekend. However, it wasn’t enough to please the Door Bumper Clear crew.
0.002 seconds. Wow. https://t.co/Eccs8wW9pb pic.twitter.com/u1rxGBd62K
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 13, 2024
The DBC crew felt Ryan Sieg could have been more aggressive in his defense against Dale Earnhardt Jr’s rising star, Mayer, toward the end. This seems to have rubbed the JR Motorsports/Dirty Mo Media boss the wrong way. Going over DBC’s comments about the Texas Xfinity and Cup races, he shared on the Dale Jr Download, “[DBC] said that the race was entertaining, but it wasn’t a ‘good’ race. What the hell does that even mean?”
During the last two laps, Ryan Sieg gave his all and, in many’s eyes, was the more aggressive driver of the two as he pushed and shoved to retake the lead from Mayer on the inside. Hence, Dale Earnhardt Jr was confused by the contradicting comments from the DBC studio. He stated, “It was entertaining but it wasn’t good? That’s an oxymoron, right? Which makes sense ’cause they’re a bunch of morons.”
The JR Motorsports owner highlighted the #39 Ford driver’s aggression and couldn’t help but channel his frustration into sarcasm. He humorously added, “Sieg wasn’t aggressive enough, as they’re grinding against the fence into the fu***n flag stand. The finish wasn’t close enough. Smoke, fire, tires torn up, cars torn up, could’ve been better, could’ve been more aggressive. The guy gets out and says, ‘I ran him into the wall.’ That’s not aggressive enough. You’ve gotta turn them upside down, Sieg. Everybody knows that.”
Though Junior clearly didn’t side with the Door Bumper Clear crew on the racing at Texas Motor Speedway, he wasn’t one to outright deny that there was a little room for improvement.
What’s keeping Texas from becoming ‘great again’?
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For many, the race at Texas marked the redemption of Chase Elliott, but did it also mean the same for one of NASCAR’s most beloved tracks? Dale Earnhardt Jr is certainly optimistic about good things to come. Over the past few seasons, Texas has gained notoriety amongst fans for some lackluster racing, but it seems like the track’s resurfacing could turn the tides back in its favor.
Going over the redemption arc that Texas seems to be embarking on, Junior shared his delight with how the new surface has helped. He stated, “Texas has been beat up by me, by everybody, right? Texas has been going through a little rough patch, and that’s an understatement. I think it’s good again, and it’s just gonna continue to get better. But one of the things that I saw that made me very happy was how gray the surface was, meaning that the surface is aged and slick, abrasive.”
The veteran highlighted the rubber laid down on the track as a good sign of the track holding its grip, but this is also where an area of improvement presented itself. Junior revealed, “Where the left side tire runs, no rubber is going down. That’s a problem, something Goodyear needs to work on. I would love to see that left-side tire putting rubber down just like the right-side is.”
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At the end of the day, Junior felt Texas Motor Speedway was on its way to becoming a track that every other venue looked at with envy. Contrary to the DBC crew, the Dirty Mo Media boss concluded, “The track is looking like it’s getting into that peak age and timeframe where you’re like, ‘Every track would want to be this way.’ And so it’s realistic. Texas is turning the corner.”
After looking at Earnhardt Junior’s quick defense of Texas Motor Speedway’s resurgence, do you think the track can do justice to the JR Motorsports owner’s claims?