Despite NASCAR’s Emphasis on Track Diversity, Dale Earnhardt Jr Remains Firm on What the Sport Needs

Published 05/22/2023, 3:47 PM EDT

NASCAR finds itself in a bit of a confused state over keeping the old fans and bringing in new ones. With their focus on both experimentation and restoring history, one person who has maintained his point through and through is Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Hall of Famer has never shied away from his love of short tracks and the need for more of them, a point he emphasizes a lot.

Interestingly, Junior touched upon this point once again before the All-Star Race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway.

It’s worth mentioning that Dale Jr was a big driving force behind the restoration of the historic racetrack as well as finding a place for it on the NASCAR calendar this year.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr’s love for short tracks was the driving factor in his NWS campaign

Ahead of Sunday’s exhibition race at the NWB Speedway, Dale Jr was asked what his driving force was in his campaign to restore the racetrack which last hosted a NASCAR Cup race in 1996.

Junior replied, “I thought this was a good idea for so many reasons, but one is, we need more short tracks.

“I know the short track package has been a big topic of conversation over the last few years. NASCAR will fix it. NASCAR will always be improving like they improve everything else and work on everything else.”

After expressing his excitement over the action thus far, he went on to add, “I want more short tracks and this place is 40 minutes from the house, and … we need these races where the entire industry is here, all of our families, and all of the people that we know, our friends are asking us for tickets.”

The former Hendrick Motorsports driver claimed being at North Wilkesboro is “very nostalgic” as he mentioned the sense of thankfulness in the community around the event.

“Everybody is so thankful for this to be happening and that is unique,” Dale Jr added.

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Earnhardt Jr on the future of NASCAR at NWS

Speaking in a recent episode of his podcast show, Junior responded to people wondering what the future of North Wilkesboro would be when it comes to NASCAR; whether the All-Star Race would be back next year or will there be a points race.

“There’s a race,” Dale Jr revealed, adding, “They don’t know what the next even is, whether it’s an All-Star Race or a 400-lap points race.

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“They don’t know what it is. That’s good in my mind. And the CARS Tour will likely be part of that conversation.”

With that said, are you looking forward to NASCAR’s return to NWS in 2024? Or would you rather have a different racetrack brought back from the dead?

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Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Shaharyar is an experienced Senior NASCAR writer at EssentiallySports. A journalist by heart and profession, he has been at the ‘wheel’ for nearly a decade after starting with Formula 1. He has penned over 1,700 articles on the sport.

Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal

Despite NASCAR’s Emphasis on Track Diversity, Dale Earnhardt Jr Remains Firm on What the Sport Needs

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s love for short tracks was the driving factor in his NWS campaign

Earnhardt Jr on the future of NASCAR at NWS

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