For years, the All-Star Race has been a beta test of sorts. The exhibition race is a non-points race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and an experimental ground for the sport’s ideas. For example, double-file restarts became the norm only after passing through the 2009 All-Star Race. Then, in 2017, we saw NASCAR testing multiple tire compounds. Similarly, executives offered a chance to evolve the sport yet again. But Cup Series teams declined it, inviting disappointment from Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The 26-time Cup Series race winner is known widely for his dedication to short-track racing. After his retirement from full-time racing in 2017, Dale Earnhardt Jr has spent considerable time championing the short-track world, like purchasing the CARS Tour. Now, this veteran is calling for a reversal in plans for the All-Star Race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr sees a golden opportunity
The 2025 All-Star Race has already invited criticism about some new tweaks. The ‘Promoter’s Caution’ is one of them, as it gives power to Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Marcus Smith to call a caution as he pleases. Then, the newly unveiled Ford pace car for the race attracted little to no enthusiasm from fans. NASCAR’s ‘Run What You Brung’ produced an interesting twist to this trend of drab ideas, though. Basically, NASCAR proposed allowing teams to make performance modifications to their cars that otherwise would not be permitted in a points race. Yet teams turned down this proposition for various reasons. They ranged from limited financial resources and the $1 million prize not being enough to a rule limiting teams to seven chassis. The latter reason is why Dale Earnhardt Jr urged NASCAR to do more.
In a recent Dale Jr Download episode, the veteran driver pointed out that executives need to lay more on the table for the 0.625-mile short track event. After all, the proposal outlined that teams could not alter key components like the engine, tires, or Next-Gen vendor parts. Dale Earnhardt Jr asked for more flexibility in this regard: “I just can’t believe that NASCAR sat down and said, ‘We’re going to do a Run What You Brung,’ just figure it out. If they said to the Xfinity Series…we’d all push back on that. What they should do is look at this race as an opportunity to f—— try something to fix the short-track package. And I would listen to the drivers and the teams. It’s foolish for us to go to Wilkesboro for this All-Star Race and not change anything.”
The All-Star Race is the perfect opportunity to learn something … why not try it?
From The @DaleJr Download https://t.co/CcEtDSCJRH pic.twitter.com/Qe5JpP5n8q
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) April 30, 2025
What is more, the short-track racing package may finally have a solution. Ever since the Next-Gen car debuted in 2022, this type of racing has suffered. Goodyear tried to put a band-aid with high-wear tires, but they did little. So Dale Earnhardt Jr urged NASCAR and teams to see the opportunity in the ‘Run What Your Brung’ idea. “This is a great chance for us to kick this car in the a– and turn it upside down and change a few things. Here we are, about to be able to throw them into a full-on race experience where we could truly see what some of this s–t might do.”
Dale Jr’s passion for improving NASCAR‘s short-track racing package is visible. It was evident in his bumped-up prize money for a local event.
Attracting talent to the race
After all, racers try to compete in events that pay them the highest amount of money. Denny Hamlin pointed out how $1 million is too low for the All-Star Race, and Dale Earnhardt Jr agreed with him. The latter veteran applied the same sentiment in his recent partnership with FloRacing. This partnership will promote the “biggest single night in pavement late model racing history.” It will offer a record-breaking total payout of over $200,000 for The Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway. To be held on August 2nd, the Late Model Stock race will award the winner $50,000, while the Pro Late Model winner gets $30,000. This is a big sum at a level of racing where low-four-figure paydays to win are still commonplace. But according to Dale Jr, that is the point.
The short-track racing messiah explained his dedication to expanding this form of racing. “We have a lot of work still to do to try to continue to create and allow the opportunities to sustain themselves. We don’t want this race to come and go…want stuff like this to start becoming the norm. So we have to do some things on our end, change some things about how we were doing things to allow that opportunity.” Dale Jr is trying to adopt a similar path that many high-profile dirt track races have taken. These include the Chili Bowl Nationals for midget cars, the World 100 for late models, or the Knoxville Nationals for sprint cars.
Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr is very vocal about his demands in the short-track racing arena. Be it NASCAR or Late Model Stock racing, the veteran wants changes for the better. We can only wait and see if the All-Star Race makes his preferred changes or not.
The post Short Track Messiah Dale Earnhardt Jr Offers New Proposal to Save NASCAR’s Degrading Hallmark appeared first on EssentiallySports.
