Folks, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has several ventures. Be it his numerous brand deals, co-owning JR Motorsports with his sister, Kelley Earnhardt, or his wide network of podcasts under the Dirty Mo Media brand, like Dale Jr Download, Door Bumper Clear, and many more. But one venture that Junior probably is most proud of is the CARS Tour.
He, along with NASCAR veterans Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Justin Marks, acquired the Tour in 2023, and ever since, it’s only grown. And now the Late Models racing series has bagged a broadcasting deal with FOX, and Dale Jr. could not be more happy about it. However, this comes amid a slew of backlash FOX has been getting recently in NASCAR and IndyCar.
Look, the CARS Tour is only in its third season since Dale Jr. and Co. took over. Since then, together with Flo Sports, they have made the series quite popular. If you remember last year in July, NASCAR went into a two-week long Olympic break, and that’s when the CARS Tour kept stock racing fans entertained. Remember last season’s Throwback 276 at Hickory Motor Speedway? Ryan Millington took out leader Connor Hall in the final corner, and this erupted into a wresting match in the pit lane between the two factions. And fans loved this level of drama, which got a lot of eyeballs to the series. Now, with FOX coming in, the popularity will increase, but this deal feels like both a boon and a bane.
Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Co.’s gamble pay off?
So, FloSports and FOX Sports have reached an agreement for FS1 to broadcast the CARS Tour Late Model race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 16th. And the best part is that Dale Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Eric Brennan are going to call it. No one can deny that this is a big step for the CARS Tour. FOX has a massive reach compared to FloRacing, and this would instantaneously boost its popularity. And that’s what the owners have been banking on.
Dale Earnhardt Jr, in a recent interview with Matt Weaver, said, “The opportunity to work with FOX is a great chance to put our sport in front of a different audience while simultaneously still being on Flo. So if you are watching on FOX that weekend, if you wanna watch it on Flo, it’s still the same broadcast… It’s great for us.” However, at the moment, FOX isn’t in the good books of stock car racing fans.
Dale Earnhardt Jr is excited about the plan coming together at Cordele, a big week of CARS Tour news between FS1-Wilkesboro and the Throwback Classic purse increase, and his chances tomorrow night in the race. pic.twitter.com/PCvkhvD70J
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) April 11, 2025
First, they got a backlash for NASCAR’s Bowman Gray race coverage. The frame was either too tight, or they just stayed on one driver for a long time. FOX even skipped to show the Air Force Thunderbirds flyover ahead of the Daytona 500. This was a rookie mistake, as pre-race events at Daytona are sacred. Then, in Atlanta, they missed out on several caution periods as they cut to commercials on key moments in the race. When the racing returned, the moment had already passed. And this list of blunders is long.
And it’s not limited to NASCAR. On March 23, the network aired both the NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead and the IndyCar race at Thermal. The problem? They start just 10 minutes apart. And the result was IndyCar losing out on massive viewership, as Homestead is a marquee event in NASCAR. At one point, it was the home to the series’ finale races. Even putting the viewership disparity aside, NASCAR underwent a coverage blackout during the IndyCar race, forcing the open-wheel fans to sit in confusion as they were forced to watch NASCAR’s Homestead Miami race instead, leaving them up in arms.
Anyway, the point is that the CARS Tour is hopeful about this deal growing their sport, but such a blunder could ruin things for them. Imagine the Wilkesboro race gets poor coverage, and this being the first race on FOX, an impression would be created in the fans’ minds. And they might not tune in the next time FOX broadcasts a race for the series. But for now, the positives outweigh the negatives by a big margin.
According to Dale Jr, thanks to this announcement, CARS Tour teams are getting sponsorships. And that’s big! “I’m hearing our teams are getting a lot of interest from sponsors. And new sponsors for that particular event. It’s awesome to hear that… I’m excited that the teams are liking the things that are happening. So yeah, we all want this to work. We all want it to go forward. The teams have as much a role in that as anybody. And we feel like we do a good job listening to them, trying to make this work for them. I’m excited; it’s been a great couple of weeks for the CARS Tour, and hopefully, we just keep growing this thing,” Junior added.
And while Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s CARS tour is scoring big, series participants are grateful!
CARS Tour drivers are lauding the efforts
Folks, the FOX deal isn’t the only big news for the CARS Tour. The Throwback 225 at Hickory Motor Speedway has a race purse of $200,000 this year, and it’s all thanks to FloRacing putting in the money. Here’s the breakdown: the Late Model Stock portion of the event pays $ 50,000 to win and $2500-to-start and Pro Late Models will pay $30,000 to win and $1500 to start the race. This amount is massive for the series.
And drivers couldn’t be more pumped for the event. CARS Tour championship leader and two-time NASCAR Weekly Series National Champion Connor Hall said, “Yeah, I mean, amazing job by Flo and everybody in CARS Tour to put that together. Without FloRacing, I don’t think this thing would obviously be growing at the rate it is, so I’m super excited to have the opportunity to run for $50,000. It’s obviously a blessing for all our competitors that we have the opportunity to be broadcasted by Flo and have their outreach, so I feel good about going for $50k at Hickory. It’s obviously a track that’s been good for me and really good for JR Motorsports over the years.” Dale Jr. also did not forget to thank FloRacing for their continued support throughout this endeavor, stating, “The Hickory deal with the $200,000 purse; without Flo, it doesn’t happen. Period. Doesn’t happen. So if anyone wants to be happy and thankful, they need to tell Flo.”
Connor Hall’s top rival, Ryan Millington, echoed his competitor’s emotions; he is probably bringing a whole new car for the event. “We’ve won a lot of races and ran a lot more there. We’re going to place a lot of emphasis onto that one. In fact, we’re building a new car that I think would be a good place to debut it at. I’m excited.” Doug Barnes Jr. lauded the series for the growth and all the things that they are doing.
Barnes Jr. said, “First the FOX Sports 1 deal and now a $50k to win race and who knows what else they’re cooking. That only gets us through the summer. You’re going to tell me they’re not going to try to finish with a bang, too? It means a lot because even the upgraded purse here (at Cordele) too, because at least your tires are paid for when you come down here. Then a $50k race at Hickory, that’s more than Martinsville, isn’t it?”
Dale Jr. echoed Barnes’ sentiments of the purse only getting bigger, adding, “I would like to think that we’re gonna normalize these ideas and they won’t be cockamamie, but I’m hoping that a $50,000 to win is a regular occurrence during the calendar year for multiple events, right?”
Folks, what do you think of the CARS Tour’s growth? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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