NASCAR has brought forth a new fear for the entire community of stock car racing. Recent statements from their executives hint at a future that might witness NASCAR working with EVs and SUVs in some of its most popular series. One such series is the NASCAR O’Reilly Series. However, when Dale Jr. tried to question these intentions, he was met with some strange resistance on social media.

On his social media, one of the fans asked former FOX reporter Kenny Wallace about NASCAR’s future away from its current OEMs as an independent series or if it would have to give in to the pressure. And Wallace simply replied, “Racing is automakers. Cars against Cars.”

Dale Jr., though, had a rather different opinion. Replying to Kenny Wallace, Junior wrote on his X account:

“I don’t buy into this entirely. Or at least I’ve got some questions. The SUV dominates the market at nearly 60% market share, followed by the pickup. Sedans are third and have fallen from 50% to below 20% in the past decade. Why hasn’t the Cup series then morphed into SUVs?

“Decades ago, the cars more resembled the showroom model. We haven’t had that since the 90s. How automakers value and utilize the racing industry has evolved and changed. What seems to matter now more than anything is eyeballs, and more and more are pointing toward the O’Reilly series.”

Then, in an attempt to respond to Dale Jr., Wallace made a video stating, “I was looking back on my six laps around Nurburgring. I mean, I’m in a BMW, and I am just doing what I can do, staying safe, not really racing. And the cars come flying by me.”

“Station wagons sat real low and had a top on their back. So that’s your answer right there. Over there in Europe, they call them ‘estate cars.’ I know Osaka Toyota likes racing. So, I think Dale Jr. is saying we should be racing station wagons,” Wallace concluded.

However, it is important to note that Wallace’s argument didn’t really counter Dale Jr., whose point was about market trends. The “estate car” comparison also comes across as rather irrelevant since european estate cars are not the same as modern SUVs in design, purpose, or market dominance.

So, Wallace’s comments may not relate a lot to Jr.’s response, but Wallace did not intend them to. He was merely trying to take a hilarious jab at Jr. Although there is another aspect to this story…

From no identity to the face of NASCAR

What Dale Jr. says holds a lot of significance in this case. NASCAR often advertises the Cup Series as the pinnacle of stock car racing. So, if at all, the OEMs should be in favor of bringing the SUVs to the Cup Series since the best series will be more relevant to them. That means the O’Reilly series is the one that should be left behind as memorabilia of the past.

After all, the current-gen NASCARs have very little resemblance to the cars on the road. Meanwhile, the O’Reilly cars are always built like they are one generation behind the Cup Series cars. The current O’Reilly cars are praised for resembling the Gen 4 NASCAR more and providing similar racing.

So, following this trend, it should be the Cup Series that ends up with SUVs while the O’Reilly cars stay stuck as sedans. But Jr. himself brings the real answer behind NASCAR’s inclination towards turning the O’Reilly Series into an SUV-focused competition.

Right now, fans are praising the O’Reilly Series for bringing much better racing than the Cup Series. The O’Reilly cars are not heavily dependent on aerodynamics and are much more difficult to handle since they are not built for road racing like Cup cars. Additionally, the O’Reilly series viewership is positively increasing every race weekend. So Dale Jr. believes that NASCAR just wants to take advantage of the fame and considers O’Reilly its top priority compared to the Cup Series for now.

Similarly, other prominent members of the NASCAR community feel the same about NASCAR using SUVs in O’Reilly’s series cars. As Parker Kligerman said, “Exactly… they sponsor other sports’ jerseys. Why do they need to even represent what’s on the road.”

That’s a very honest question. In fact, it does make one wonder: if the sponsors being relevant is not important, then why is NASCAR so dependent on OEMs?