Perhaps in no other’s driver case more than Ross Chastain’s has Dale Earnhardt’s name been mentioned so much in the last year and a half. This is mostly because of the way he races on the track. But after Chastain’s punch to Noah Gragson at Kansas, Dale Earnhardt Jr. argued that NASCAR should capitalize on Chastain the way they did with his father.

However, this was something for which NASCAR fans bashed Junior.

Junior gets called out by NASCAR fans for his Dale Earnhardt-Ross Chastain point

Speaking in a recent episode of his podcast show, Junior claimed the Chastain-Gragson incident “is NASCAR’s opportunity to turn Ross Chastain into from a superstar in the NASCAR bubble to a national star in the mainstream.”

He recalled how people in the late 1980s and into the next decade began capitalizung on his father’s on track actions.

“They created a persona through marketing through souvenirs that went nationwide. The Intimidator, the Man in Black, you know where you saw those for the first time? On a hat. On a tshirt,” Earnhardt Jr explained. “That was a marketing campaign. It took off. It became a persona. We’re there.”

“Where’s my ‘Droppin’ the Hammer’ Ross tshirt?”

This argument by Junior led to some disagreements among the fans who didn’t agree with Dale Earnhardt Sr’s son’s point about his own father.

So with all the criticism of his point, Junior had a reaction of his own.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr responds to fans who called him out

Reacting to a clip of his comments on which he got the backlash, Junior wrote, “All these people tellin’ ME who Dale Earnhardt was.”

“I am not saying Ross is the new Sr. I’m only saying Nascar/Trackhouse has a chance to capitalize on the attention. In a similar way Nascar and souvenir businesses did with dad (and others) in the late 80s early 90.”

Earnhardt Jr further emphasized his point with the stat that proved Chastain & Gragson’s altercation had more Twitter engagements than the next 23 drivers combined.

“Chastain+Gragson combined for about 120,500, while the next 23 combined for about 120,000 including 38K for @DennyHamlin,” journalist Adam Stern reported.

So perhaps Junior is right. Perhaps Ross Chastain is and should be the next big thing for NASCAR.

The question is, what’s your opinion?

Also Read: Bubba Wallace Insider Wants Noah Gragson to Become a Kyle Larson Copycat After He Nearly Sabotaged Others During Ross Chastain Confrontation