Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never been shy about speaking his mind, and yet again, he delivered an unfiltered critique of a major flaw in recent NASCAR.
After this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, the NASCAR Hall of Famer and fan favorite went on what might just be his most uncensored podcast episode yet. And he gave fans a fair warning about it, too.
But it wasn’t just for laughs — Earnhardt Jr. had a serious bone to pick with NASCAR’s new generation of stock cars.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Expresses Frustration with the Next Gen Car
The main thing getting under Earnhardt Jr.’s skin is the Next Gen car — NASCAR’s seventh-generation model that was supposed to improve parity across teams. But according to Earnhardt, it’s sucking the life out of superspeedway racing.
The cars are too grippy, too stable, and not powerful enough. With only 670 horsepower, it’s become almost impossible for drivers to make bold, last-minute moves. And on a track like Talladega —a place known for wild finishes and photo-finishes — that’s just not cutting it.
“There’s no gaps between cars for you to change lanes; you’re stuck, that’s awful. The racing at Daytona, Talladega with the Next-Gen, there’s some issues with the car—they need to work on ’em, they need to fix ’em,” Earnhardt Jr. said on the ‘Dale Jr. Download’ podcast. “I think if they pulled a bunch of drag off the car, that would be a lot of it. When you run the car by itself, what is it, 15, 20 MPH slower? … There is the problem.”
Even though Sunday’s race had 67 lead changes, it didn’t tell the whole story. Drivers like William Byron and Kyle Larson were left stuck in the pack, unable to make any real moves on the leaders, Austin Cindric and Ryan Preece. And Earnhardt, who knows Talladega like the back of his hand, wasn’t buying the hype.
“When you put the car in draft, you run 195 MPH; when it runs by itself, it runs 181 MPH. It’s terrible,” he said. “A car that runs 20 MPH slower by itself. You’re wanting me to pull out, hoping to get some help. And if I don’t, I’m going to f***ing bleed speed all the way to the finish line.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Goes Off—and Fans Loved It
Earnhardt Jr.’s rant hit home with a lot of fans who’ve also been frustrated with the current state of NASCAR racing. The post-race drama, combined with his uncensored breakdown, made for some must-listen content.
And he really did break his own record for F-bombs. On X (formerly Twitter), Earnhardt posted, “New show! New record number of F,” teasing the firestorm of F-bombs he had unleashed.
The podcast clip that made the rounds online showed just one of those moments, but fans who tuned in to the full episode know he went all in. Passionate, fired up, and brutally honest — it was vintage Earnhardt.
Love him or hate him, when Earnhardt Jr. speaks up, the NASCAR world listens. And if NASCAR doesn’t do something about the Next Gen car soon? Well, we might just need a bleep button for every episode of his podcast.