NASCAR Fans Left Questioning Dale Jr’s Latest Move as Road Course Stance Takes Unexpected Turn
Jan 30, 2026 | 12:40 PM EST
NASCAR Fans Left Questioning Dale Jr’s Latest Move as Road Course Stance Takes Unexpected Turn
Jan 30, 2026 | 12:40 PM EST
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NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Practice Feb 12, 2025 Daytona Beach, Florida, USA NASCAR team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks on during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Daytona Beach Daytona International Speedway Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xPeterxCaseyx 20250212_pjc_bc1_039
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NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Practice Feb 12, 2025 Daytona Beach, Florida, USA NASCAR team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks on during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Daytona Beach Daytona International Speedway Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xPeterxCaseyx 20250212_pjc_bc1_039
It’s no secret that Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t a fan of road courses. In fact, Dale Jr. has never paid attention to any road course race except Road Atlanta and Riverside Speedway, since they are the nostalgic tracks of NASCAR. Earlier, Dale Jr.’s posts on X attracted a lot of criticism owing to his indifferent attitude towards road courses. But what happened recently was something that the fans never saw coming.
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Dale Jr. shows a surprising interest in road courses for his CARS Tour
When a fan mentioned that racing at Virginia International Raceway would be beneficial and create a lot of jobs, Dale Jr. said, “Would be awesome to find a pathway to get one single road course event on our schedule. I’ve learned through the Dodge deal, on the front end, we would need different transmissions and oil pans. There’s also a lot more expense per team to consider beyond that. But it’s not entirely unlikely.”
His idea immediately attracted the attention of a champion racing mechanic and popular motorsports reporter, Bozi Tatarevic. “I might be inclined to sign up to work on a car if the CARS Tour went to VIR.”
So not only is Dale Earnhardt Jr. hinting that he can accommodate VIR on the CARS schedule, but he is more than happy to include a road course in his racing series. It is highly unlike him.
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BRISTOL, TN – SEPTEMBER 20: Dale Earnhardt, Jr 88 JR Motorsports Hellmann s Chevrolet watches the action from pit road during practice for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Xfinity Series Food City 300 on September 20, 2024 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: SEP 20 NASCAR Xfinity Series Food City 300 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2409201424300
This is because, for the longest time, Dale Jr. has been a vocal supporter of the traditional ovals. In fact, very recently, NASCAR announced the cancellation of the Roval at Charlotte as both races at the venue will take place at the 1.5-mile quad oval. At the time, Junior said,
“The Roval will always be there when they want to bring it back. The oval has been solid recently. No reason not to take advantage of that. One may complain about the lack of road courses in the chase. It makes zero difference to me either way.”
Dale Jr. is among the many former NASCAR drivers who currently operate the CARS Tour. And his sudden turnaround and display of affection towards road courses didn’t go unnoticed by the fans, who were instantly taken aback in surprise.
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Fans are surprised
“Dale wanting a road course? The world truly is upside down.” Last year in February, too, Junior had made a blunt statement saying, “I don’t love road courses.” So naturally, fans being stunned by this is no surprise.
Other reactions, too, added to that sentiment. “Hey @DaleJr blink twice if you are being held against your will. We will send help.”
One fan jokingly pointed out, “run the roval 😂,” as the track’s just got free from its Cup Series duties.
Some fans immediately started brainstorming ideas that could help Dale Jr. make his ideas come true without any delay. To help him with the engineering operations, a fan had a detailed plan:
“Here’s a thought: JRM or CARS Tour provides the transmissions and oil pans for all entries. Do the transmissions like crate motors where they CANNOT be messed with by teams (identical gears etc) & have teams return them after the race. THEN, sell the lot back to the manufacturer for refurbishing and R&D (as a tax write-off). The track/venue add $5 to the ticket and $10 to all pit passes to offset costs. Whoever is providing the transmissions gets that one race main sponsorship bump for a discount on the lot of transmissions. JRM writes most of their costs off through some creative accounting. Just because you could easily foot the bill for everything doesn’t mean you do. Be creative with it. Where there’s a will there’s a way.”
The other fans were cheering on Dale Jr. One of them even mentioned his all-time favorite road course, Road Atlanta, to bring racing back to the original NASCAR road course track.
“Road Atlanta Would Work for a Cars Tour Event since both Lanier, Raceway and Gresham motorsports Park is no longer being used. Sure they’re starving for some short track asphalt racing in that area. That’s where I’m originally from North Georgia.”
Some other fans were talking about how the popular names like Travis Pastrana would help him with his troubles. “I bet you, Travis Pastrana, Cleetus and a case of beer could figure something out in a couple of hours.”
It is not every day you see someone like Dale Earnhardt Jr. changing his stance. But for the time being, the progress and growth of his racing series seems like a better option. After all, he wouldn’t want to hurt the CARS Tour owing to his personal dislike for road courses in stock car racing.
What do you think about Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s opinions and the CARS Tour racing at VIR?
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