The Bristol night race was mind-boggling on a lot of fronts. Firstly, Goodyear’s tire experiment paid off handsomely after 18 months of effort, although Denny Hamlin termed it ‘extreme.’ With 36 lead changes and ferocious tire wear, drivers were left scrambling for strategy. Their race night became a bit more complicated with the sheer number of caution flags involved. Its 137 caution laps were a record in NASCAR’s modern era – but that does not faze Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The 26-time Cup Series race winner retired in 2017, but he fondly remembers his racing career. Contrary to his charming and well-loved behavior on podcasts, Dale Jr. used to have a rowdy reputation as a young race car driver. But he changed, and one of the reasons lay in getting schooled by a NASCAR official.

Dale Jr. learned the importance of caution first-hand

“There was so, so many yellow flags. It’s hard to get in a rhythm, and then it just kept mixing up the tire strategy, and then you would run out of tires.” Denny Hamlin went into a fiery rant about the jaw-dropping 14 caution flags during the Bristol race. However, this is hardly the first time a driver has lost his temper about NASCAR’s caution laps. Dale Jr. recalled the 2002 race in Bristol, where he was equally frustrated. “I’m mad as hell…and I get on the radio. I go, I don’t know what the heck is going on here with these yellow flags,” he said. “We’ve got like 15 to go, 14 to go, 12 to go…I’m like, let’s go. I want the opportunity to get back into the top 10 and at least salvage something. And I’m just animated as heck on the radio.”

But soon after unleashing his rage, Dale Jr. got a call to NASCAR’s trailer post-race. Tony Eury Sr., Dale Jr.’s crew chief, was also called. Despite Tony’s reputation for unrestrained anger, he could not talk back to then-NASCAR president Mike Helton’s logic. Dale Jr. recalled, “As soon as (Helton) walks through the door, me and Tony Sr. start talking. ‘Hey man, we gotta clean our case.’ And he said, ‘Y’all ain’t here to talk. Y’all here to listen…There were parts and pieces of brake rotor littered all around the top groove of that race track, and we were trying to clean off that racetrack. We’re not riding under caution for no reason. There’s a purpose and a reason to be under yellow.'”

That marked a turning point in Dale Jr.‘s opinion about caution laps. He continued about Mike Helton’s words, “He made it pretty clear that we needed to be particular about what we said on our radio. That was a moment…ever since then, even though cautions may get drawn out…TV’s gonna run off to commercial, the second stage is already 8 laps over before you get back to green flag. I don’t love all of that…but I’m sure there’s a reason.”

While Dale Jr. sanctioned the surprising number of caution flags, he also has a finger on the pulse of NASCAR’s playoffs. He can see the future darkening and brightening for select drivers.

A deepening polarity between drivers

As the 2025 Cup Series playoffs proceed, so does the gap between the drivers. Four of the contenders could not advance into the Round of 12 – Josh Berry, Austin Dillon, SVG, and Alex Bowman. Among the remaining 12 playoff contenders, Dale Jr. found it hard to judge. “They’re all so good. This is really hard. No scientific data here. No evidence or a real hard study to back up this prediction,” he said. But eventually, he assigned bad luck to four drivers who may not make it to the Round of 8. Dale Jr. said, “But my four that are going to struggle to make it into the next round are Chase Elliott, [Austin] Cindric, [Ross] Chastain, [Tyler] Reddick.”

While keeping the top picks like Denny Hamlin or Christopher Bell, Dale Jr. shared thoughts on the unlikely strong contenders. One of them is Bubba Wallace, who won the Brickyard 400 race this year. Dale Jr. said he has “turned it up another notch this year.” He continued about Wallace, “He’s sort of switched into another gear that I’ve never seen him really have before. Just in his pace and speed, his confidence, and that he deserves to be up there, can do it, should be able to do it.”

Then, the 2024 Cup champion, Joey Logano, also elicited attention. The Team Penske driver’s season has been subpar at best, with only one win in Texas, along with 9 top tens and 5 top fives. But Dale Jr. thinks he will get through, referring to Logano’s clutch wins for the past three years. “I think he’ll do just enough to advance.”

Clearly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is looking forward to an exciting Round of 12 in the playoffs. He is not afraid of another caution-riddled race like Bristol – let’s wait and see what the future races hold.