4x F1 World Champion Max Verstappen might be too afraid to race on an oval, but NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. finds no reason why he should avoid stock car racing. He feels that Verstappen could be a strong addition to the Cup Series, and recently sent him a little challenge, questioning his motorsports interest.

Dale Jr. wants Verstappen in NASCAR

“I mean, I would love to see Max Verstappen give it a try.” Max Verstappen is known for his varied interests in racing. While he primarily focuses on Formula 1, driving for Red Bull Racing, he is just as focused on other series as well. Last year, he made his endurance debut, piloting the Ferrari 296 at Nurburgring, and performed exceptionally well in it.

However, Verstappen has previously mentioned that he avoids racing on ovals. “For me, it’s just that on Oval, I don’t want to do it just for the risk of injury or when you hit the fence,” he had said.

This includes the Indianapolis 500 and a majority of the NASCAR Cup Series races. While he claims safety is his priority, Dale Earnhardt Jr. still wants him to give it a try. 

“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.”

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Moreover, he feels that Verstappen wouldn’t face any issues in adapting to the cars as well. “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.”

While Dale Jr’s proposal does sound exciting, it doesn’t seem to be happening anytime in the near future. Verstappen is already committed to his schedule for Red Bull Racing and has committed himself to F1. Considering the new cars in the 2026 F1 season, it only makes sense for him to focus solely on them.

But there have been quite a few Formula 1 drivers in history who have participated in NASCAR, and some of them left quite a mark.

Some F1 drivers who did turn to NASCAR

While switching from the open-wheel world of Formula 1 to NASCAR can be a daunting task, there have been quite a few drivers in history who took up the challenge. This list includes some of the greatest, including Kimi Raikkonen, but some performed exceptionally well despite how different the driving is.

Juan Pablo Montoya tops this list. He was the only driver who took a full-time role in the sport after his tenure in F1 ended in 2006. He ran over 250 Cup races, managing to win two of them. At the same time, he ran a few O’Reilly Auto Parts (formerly Xfinity) Series races, winning one of them.

Dan Gurney is also a popular name in the series. However, he ran exclusively on road courses on a part-time basis. Interestingly, he only won four races in Formula 1 but five in the Cup Series.

Another legendary name who crossed over is Mario Andretti. A Formula 1 World Champion, he, too, ran some select races in the Cup Series, also winning the 1967 Daytona 500.

Through the years, there have been quite a few drivers who managed to take on the challenge of changing their motorsports vertical completely. While Dale Jr. wants Max Verstappen to do something similar, he is more focused on his F1 journey.