Dale Earnhardt Jr. Expresses Astonishment at NASCAR’s Perceived Threat from Superstar Racing Experience

In the wake of the antitrust lawsuit settlement between 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister and business partner, Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, addressed several key topics on their podcast, "Dale Jr. Download." Among the most surprising revelations for the NASCAR Hall of Famer was the extent to which the sanctioning body allegedly perceived the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) as a competitive threat, prompting what documents and testimony revealed as a strategic effort to "lock down" tracks through extensive sanctioning agreements.

The discovery process and subsequent trial testimony uncovered internal communications from NASCAR executives detailing frustration with the SRX series. These documents, along with sworn testimony, illuminated a concern within NASCAR that the upstart series, spearheaded by Ray Evernham, posed a challenge to its dominance. However, Earnhardt Jr. voiced his bewilderment at this perspective, particularly given the perceived disparity in scale between the two entities.

"I gotta be honest, this shocked me," Earnhardt Jr. stated on his podcast. "I want to say that I’m a big fan, and I think I’m a good friend with Ray Evernham. When he started talking about SRX and what he wanted to do, in his mind, he wanted to re-create IROC. The initial idea of SRX as a series that would go into these local markets, and you would bring out these retired guys and some unique personalities, different forms of racing and offer up a car to the local hero. The original idea of SRX, in my mind, was a good idea."

Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged his personal lack of involvement or deep viewership of the SRX series, citing bandwidth limitations. "Out of the gate, I just didn’t have the bandwidth to get into it. I wasn’t a fan; I didn’t really watch too much of it… No offense to anybody out there that was SRX fans or anybody that worked in the series… but I wasn’t into it."

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Despite his personal detachment, the notion that NASCAR felt threatened by SRX struck him as incongruous. "To hear that they were even remotely the least bit threatened is so surprising to me because they’re this giant that’s NASCAR and SRX is just this little thing," he explained. "They were like 12 cars just barely getting by financially. They’re tearing up so much shit, they had no idea they were gonna tear up so much shit. In the end, they couldn’t make the money work. SRX went away because it’s expensive to operate and the viewership numbers didn’t justify the TV contract and the TV contract couldn’t afford the series, so it just financially didn’t really work."

Further details emerged during the trial regarding NASCAR’s internal discussions. Steve O’Donnell, now NASCAR’s president, testified about his directive to the legal department to examine the SRX series. O’Donnell’s concern stemmed from the increasing resemblance of SRX events to NASCAR Cup Series racing, particularly with active Cup drivers and their sponsors participating in the mid-week summer short and dirt track series. However, O’Donnell also noted that legal counsel advised there was no actionable basis to intervene.

The situation was further amplified by comments from NBC Sports executive Sam Flood, who reportedly questioned NASCAR’s broadcast value proposition if a comparable racing product could be obtained at a lower cost through SRX. This sentiment underscored the perceived competitive pressure NASCAR executives felt.

Earnhardt Jr. reiterated his surprise at these internal deliberations. "I am surprised by the some of the comments I read from O’Donnell and a couple people of, ‘Man we gotta put an end to this or we gotta go take a look at this.’ Why are we worried? I don’t care [about the ratings], people were gonna be curious… I’m not alarmed by that. I was really surprised by that," he stated. "I never saw, no disrespect, but I never would’ve worried or considered SRX a problem."

Instead of viewing SRX as a threat, Earnhardt Jr. suggested a more collaborative approach. "I would’ve looked at what they were doing… why do people like it and can we work together? It was interesting because it did morph. You had drivers like Denny, Chase, and Blaney, but Chase goes over there to race with his dad, have a little fun. Blaney with his dad. They were getting paid to go out there and do it for a little bit of money."

The internal NASCAR discussions also revealed a proactive strategy concerning prominent short tracks. In a June 2022 text message exchange, then-NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell, Senior Vice President of Strategy Scott Prime, and NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France discussed the need to secure events at North Wilkesboro Speedway and Bowman Gray Stadium before SRX could potentially do so.

The exchange included O’Donnell writing, "Wait until (Dale) Jr. says he is running an event. Matter of time. They will go to North Wilkesboro with Jr. if we are not careful. We need to be the first back." Prime responded with agreement, stating, "Agreed – North Wilkesboro and Bowman Gray next year with Jr and friends if we don’t make moves." O’Donnell then proposed a strategy for the All-Star Race, suggesting a "combo – Bowman and Wilkes Fri/Sun," with Prime adding, "Sick! And flip it for 2024. We’ve got moves to make. Just need to sell them through. Should be a good working session Thursday."

These strategic considerations preceded the eventual inclusion of North Wilkesboro Speedway on the Cup Series schedule in 2023 and Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025. However, Earnhardt Jr. attributed the revival of North Wilkesboro primarily to the efforts of Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith and financial contributions from North Carolina’s Build Back Better fund, rather than direct NASCAR initiative.

"Listen, there is a lot of stuff about NASCAR in all of this that I don’t know," Earnhardt Jr. admitted. "I don’t know everything about how they run things, and I certainly didn’t know how they felt about some things, and how these text messages have unveiled some things. But I’ll tell you what I do know, is that North Wilkesboro came back because of Marcus Smith… NASCAR, you know, they didn’t play any role. Now, they have to go, when Marcus comes up and says, ‘Man, I’ve got this track back together, I want to put it on the schedule.’ They’ve gotta go, ‘Okay, good.’"

He emphasized the grassroots support that was instrumental in the track’s return. "But, look, NASCAR never was going, ‘Guys, we gotta get Wilkesboro going.’ This isn’t a knock to them, you know, this isn’t a knock to them, they shouldn’t take this as an insult, but Wilkesboro is back because of everybody else. The government, our local government, and the town, a lot of volunteers. Fucking, 20 years of volunteers, people just like even keeping the grass mowed for 20 years. All of those reasons, the fact that they kept the track in somewhat reasonable shape, to even be considered to be brought back. Those people should be commended. You know, we can go on about this."

Kelley Earnhardt-Miller also highlighted Dale Jr.’s role in galvanizing support for short-track racing. She pointed to his involvement with the CARS Tour and his participation in a "Race Track Revival" event at North Wilkesboro that drew an estimated 20,000 fans prior to NASCAR and SMI’s scheduling of the All-Star Race. While Earnhardt Jr. modestly deflected such praise, his significant star power demonstrably contributed to the resurgence of interest in the historic venue.

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