Yes indeed, the Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway was a hit once again. Now, this is largely because of the track, but it was also because of the way drivers approached racing and passing, something Dale Earnhardt Jr also mentioned.

In a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download, the NASCAR Hall Of Famer described one of the things that “freaking stood out” to him about the Atlanta race, and the reason he was on his toes from the start.

“The race started in Stage 1, a plate race. Usually Stage 1 in a restrictor plate at a track like Talladega and Daytona, the first stage is pretty tame. Nobody wants to make any big mistakes, go and have a big crash and take a lot of cars out,” he said.

“Whatever was going on in that first stage that was not happening.”

Dale Jr. then mentioned how defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric were among the few who struggled because they were simply “shocked.” 

“His (Kyle Larson’s) team missed it, (Austin) Cindric’s team missed it,” he added.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr on what pisses him off the most as a viewer of racing

The JR Motorsports co-owner, who is also employed as a broadcaster for NBC shed some light on watching NASCAR from his new lens, that of a broadcaster, compared to the previous one, of a driver.

Earnhardt Jr. described that he was “really surprised” by the fact that whenever a driver had a chance to pass the leader, they just took the chance regardless of what stage or point of the race they were in.

“Sometimes the drivers, me included, are like, ‘I don’t need to pass the guy, I’ll push it.’ And that sounds like a great idea because I’m being smart,” he continued.

“But now when I’m a broadcaster, I hate when I see a guy, have a good enough run to make a move to the front, and not take it, and it drives me crazy.”

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