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Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Dream Receives Major Setback After Disappointing Update From NASCAR Insider

Published 12/09/2022, 6:45 AM EST

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Resources are limited, and when there’s only a finite amount of something, the opportunity cost will always be associated with using the resource. NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt Jr have been battling for this limited resource, but they have a tough competitor on the other side.

Dale Earnhardt Jr has been advocating for racing at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway for a long time. His love for the prospective event destination is so strong that he made a bold statement in support of it.

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“If they run Xfinity Series here, I’ll be here,” he said. “I’ll run once a year. I’ll probably do that as long as I can and there should be a few more years of that. Hopefully, we can get the Xfinity here soon; the next couple of years because I’d love to come out here and compete,” said Junior.

via Imago

Unfortunately for him, the battle against this comes from the populace around the track and soccer. Veteran NASCAR journalist had provided an update about the proposal.

“Nashville Fair Board had public hearing tonight on Bristol-Fairgrounds Speedway proposal. About two dozen speakers against, and one dozen for. Public concerns: City on hook if revenue $$ don’t cover bonds & parking/noise. Work sessions set for 12/21 & 1/5. Another public hearing 1/10,” wrote Pockrass.

A disgruntled fan commented, “All these tree huggers that live around here now piss me off. They have no problem with with that waste of space soccer stadium, but even forbid we race.”

Pockrass informed them, “Actually several of the people who spoke against the speedway proposal said they were race fans and part of the issue has been parking for soccer and the disruption that has caused, and with the increase to a 30K-seat racing grandstand, concerns of that on more days during the year.”

With such strong objections from those around, it looks increasingly unlikely for the proposal to succeed.

Dale Earnhardt Jr knows a thing or two about track revival

Dale Jr has been a longstanding proponent of saving ‘dying’ tracks and infusing energy and funds into races that seem to be losing out to the NASCAR’s bright lights and money power

via Getty

His attempts started this year with his participation in the South Carolina 400. Racing at Florence Motor Speedway, the legendary driver intended to provide a fillip to local track racing through his involvement.

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Prior to the race, he said “I raced at Florence every Friday night, probably 14 times a year. I was part of that experience back in the 90s when we ran the 400 at the end of those years. I had so many amazing experiences there back in the 90s. I want this race track to survive. Hopefully, this is a great way for them to end the season.”

He had an eventful night in Florence, finishing in ninth place. The veteran was involved in two contact incidents that led to penalties, pushing him to the back of the pack on both occasions. If not for those penalties, he could have finished higher.

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While the race did not give Dale Jr the fairytale return his fans would have wished for, he surely helped the track in a big, big way.

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Written by:

Abhay Tyagi

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Abhay Tyagi is a Formula 1 Author at EssentiallySports. Although he has completed his undergrad in Law and Management, he has always been eager to venture into the exciting field of sports journalism. With a special affinity for Engineering and Speed, Abhay has always found the world of Formula 1 quite exhilarating.
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Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai