Mike Joy Not in Favour of Controversial NASCAR Number Placement Rule That Dale Earnhardt Jr Approved

When someone as legendary and someone with as big of a knowledge tank on the sport as Mike Joy criticizes something, there’s gotta be some truth, some legitimacy to it. The FOX Sports broadcaster recently spoke about the number placement rule on the new NASCAR Next Gen cars.

Earlier, the driver number was placed in the middle of the car’s side. But when the new car came in, from 2022, the number moved forward in order to leave more space for the sponsors.

“Just my 2 cents… I wish Cup teams were given more leeway with side number placement for the annual throwback weekend. There’s no real downside, and we would all enjoy the creativity,” Joy tweeted.

Yet, on the other side of spectrum, there have been some heavy names from the sport who welcomed the number placement change.

For instance, Dale Earnhardt Jr. In March 2021, the NASCAR Hall of Famer replied to a tweet with a picture of a NASCAR car from 1985 that had it’s number more or less in he same position as the cars in 2022.

“Solid number placement. Wasn’t the same when he eventually centered it up on the Monte,” Dale Jr. said, that suggested him approving the placement of the number being more towards the front than the center.

Similarly, Torrey Galida, the President of legendary team, Richard Childress Racing had also welcomed the new number rule. “We all know how important the number is to a fan’s connection with their driver,” he said.

“Moving the numbers forward should make them more visible, and will also provide the race teams an opportunity to give sponsors some enhanced branding opportunities.” 

NASCAR President had anticipated backlash against the new number placement

In an interview from 2021, when the number placement rule hadn’t been confirmed, NASCAR President Steve Phelps spoke about the anticipated criticism the forthcoming rule would bring.

“It’s mixed,” Phelps said about the research into the subject.

“There are some fans that absolutely hate it, and there are fans that absolutely love it, so no decision as to what we’re going to do on where those numbers are going to be placed,” he added.

Of course, we all know where the numbers did end up being placed. And of course, we all know how most of the NASCAR community felt about it.

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