Dale Jr. has been one of the fan favorite drivers throughout his NASCAR career. But it seems like recently he has climbed the same hype train as others. For the past few days, prominent NASCAR names have shown their open support for Steve Phelps. Putting aside his mistakes, Dale Jr. and the others have been quick to highlight how Phelps was a very important personality in NASCAR.

NASCAR fans are quite content after Phelps resigned, but they are still sour with Steve O’Donnell. The community has also been quick to cancel the other NASCAR veterans who came in support of either Phelps or O’Donnell. However, Dale Jr. does not seem to be too keen on aligning himself with the sentiments of the audience. His words during the latest episode of his podcast, Dale Jr. Download, were rather unforgiving and direct.

Dale Jr. sides with Steve Phelps and O’Donnell contrary to fans

During the podcast, TJ Majors and Dale Jr. were discussing the effect of the lawsuit on both NASCAR and its teams. Initially, Dale Jr. started off explaining the consequences of the same. He was pointing out that both NASCAR and the teams have tried to compromise on their ends to reach a mutual agreement. He says it is for the good that the two parties are now moving forward.

But his words quickly took a shocking turn when he started focusing on NASCAR’s terrible loss of Steve Phelps.

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“I don’t mind telling you that I think Phelps is a great dude. I know what he said about Richard Childers is not cool. I didn’t like it. Don’t think that was a good thing to say about Richard. No matter what you think about Richard Childress…

…Phelps would agree that it was a dumb thing to say. He’s owned it from what I could tell, and Steve Phelps will land on his feet. He’s a good dude, and he’s done some great things in our sport. He’s shepherded our sport through some tough times, and I know I’ll catch some sh-t for that. I don’t give a sh-t. This is what I believe. ”

For a driver who has been the apple of the eye in the fan community, this sudden declaration of sidelining himself from fan opinion is naturally a bit shocking. Only some days ago, he was a spokesperson for NASCAR, explaining the amazing ‘new’ championship format during a press release.

His bold challenge that he simply does not care what others say about him is harsh and ought to ruffle a few feathers among the fans. But for him, speaking his mind is more important than agreeing to everything the fans say.

But this wasn’t all, he also put forth his idea of both Steve O’Donnell and Steve Phelps being the two saviors of NASCAR in recent years. Talking about O’Donnell, Dale Jr. explained:

“I’ve been around him my whole career. I know exactly how he feels and what he thinks, and I know where his heart is. If y’all were paying attention during the trial, we all learned that both Phelps and O’Donnell were actually trying to get the teams what they freaking wanted, you know?

“So, I mean, even aside from what Phelps said about Richard, Phelps and O’Donnell were kind of working to get everything right, and they were trying to make it work.”

So basically, Junior is asking the fans to look beyond the surface-level criticism. We shouldn’t judge them by just a few actions and should rather see the bigger picture of what they have been for the sport. Using the trial’s example, he’s trying to make fans realize how Phelps and O’Donnell were actually trying to give teams what they had been asking for, not working against them.

And with all these talks about the leadership, what if Dale Jr. himself stands up to take matters into his own hands?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ready to join higher ranks in NASCAR

During his podcast, Dale Jr. was quite frank about the recent events in NASCAR. He was more than happy about the fact that NASCAR is choosing to have a ‘Chase’ instead of a full 36-race championship. But more than that, Dale Jr. also dropped a shocking revelation about his ambitions for the future.

Earlier on, Dale Jr. said the commissioner position was not really needed by NASCAR. But as he progressed through the episode, he expressed his willingness to join NASCAR management if given the chance to do so.

“If they walked in this room and asked me to do it right now. I’d do it. I’d have to call Amy and say, ‘Hey, man. I think about being a commissioner.'”

It’s a subtle joke, but nevertheless, it expresses Dale Jr.’s mentality towards the sport. He is the owner of JR Motorsports, and his media house, Dirty Mo Media, is among the best-performing content houses in NASCAR. In a way, Dale Jr. is already a big part of NASCAR and its inside management. The proof of the same was his presence during the new championship format announcement.

What do you think about Dale Jr.’s recent comments? Would you like to see him as the NASCAR commissioner?