Fuel saving has become a hot topic for NASCAR fans in recent years. Watching their favorite drivers run at half-throttle in prestigious superspeedway races can be a frustrating issue. And all fingers point at NASCAR’s ingenious moves, like introducing the Next-Gen car in 2022. But while the car’s faults cannot be denied, Dale Earnhardt Jr. floated an alternate viewpoint in this debate.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. deflects to team strategy

“The fuel-saving era is not NASCAR’s fault,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in a Dale Jr Download episode. “It’s just that the teams have found a way to like a strategy to like, you know, give them an advantage late in the race, and they’ve got to minimize that. You know, when we went to this car, and it fuels slower like it, you know, the tires go on faster, and the fuel takes longer to go in. That’s what created this.”

Ahead of the Daytona 500, this debate is most pertinent. At superspeedways like Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta, teams find themselves doing everything they can to save fuel. This saves time on pit road during green-flag pit stops. The strategy, though effective, can lead to slow speeds on the track in the already gridlocked field. And fans predominantly believe it’s NASCAR’s problem, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. brought the teams’ actions as well into this issue.

“So they go out there, and they save as much as they can. And they have to put less in the car, spend less time on pit road, and they’re trying to put themselves in position late in the race with track position to go out there and maybe have a shot at winning. And it’s frustrating to watch them ride around. But I feel like if they don’t change anything, people will have to set themselves apart,” he added.

NASCAR’s Next-Gen car has made it more difficult to pass on superspeedways. This has led to stale racing, where drivers may be riding three-wide but barely pushing their cars with speed. Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, recently emphasized that since fans do not see much of a difference, this issue may not be big. But Dale Jr. called out this nonchalance and underlined the fuel-saving issue, nonetheless.

While debates about the on-track product continue, Earnhardt Jr. is turning his eyes to a different way to generate excitement for the sport.

Wooing the rival series

While NASCAR and F1 rarely cross paths, when they do, it turns out to be a spectacle. Not so long ago, Formula 1 World Champions Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, and Jacques Villeneuve made a handful of starts at the top level of NASCAR. Among the more successful ones, Dan Gurney won five Cup races, Juan Pablo Montoya won two, and Mario Andretti won the Daytona 500. Now, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is demanding a comeback of F1 champions to his own sport.

“I mean, I would love to see Max Verstappen give it a try,” Dale Jr. said. “He’s incredible, and I think his curiosity, his work ethic, I think all of that would play a great role in allowing him to be successful. Plus, our cars have changed a lot. Our cars have independent rear suspension, the transaxle diffuser… our cars aren’t the stock cars from 10, 20 years ago, and so I think the opportunity for an F1 guy to have success is much better today than it was 20 years ago.”

Clearly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. harbors an optimistic look about NASCAR despite the multiple issues. Let’s wait and see where the fuel debate proceeds.