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In the wake of a recently settled antitrust lawsuit involving NASCAR teams 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister and business partner, Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, have offered candid reflections on the proceedings. During an episode of their podcast, "Dale Jr. Download," Earnhardt Jr. articulated his surprise at the extent to which NASCAR leadership apparently viewed the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) as a competitive threat, a sentiment that emerged through documents and testimony during the legal battle.
The revelation that NASCAR executives perceived SRX as a significant enough concern to implement measures such as "locking down" tracks with extensive sanctioning agreements has been a focal point of discussions surrounding the lawsuit. Internal communications and courtroom testimonies have underscored a palpable frustration within NASCAR’s upper echelons regarding the nascent SRX series.
Speaking on his podcast, Earnhardt Jr. conveyed his disbelief at the level of concern NASCAR appeared to harbor. "I gotta be honest, this shocked me," he stated. "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. elaborated on his personal disengagement from the SRX series, stating, "I will say, though, I wasn’t interested in it, personally. 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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His astonishment stemmed from the perceived imbalance of power between the two entities. "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," Earnhardt Jr. remarked. He characterized SRX as a financially precarious operation, with "12 cars just barely getting by financially." He further noted the series’ significant operational costs and the eventual financial unsustainability, stating, "They were 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."
The legal discovery process unearthed communications that revealed NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell’s directives to the legal department to scrutinize the situation. O’Donnell reportedly expressed that the series began to resemble NASCAR’s own product as Cup Series drivers and their sponsors increasingly participated in the mid-week summer short and dirt track series. However, O’Donnell also testified that legal counsel advised that no actionable offense had been committed.
Adding to the narrative, NBC Sports executive Sam Flood reportedly conveyed concerns to NASCAR, questioning the value of the broadcast rights for NASCAR’s premier series if a comparable product could be accessed at a lower cost through SRX.
Earnhardt Jr. remained unconvinced by these concerns, questioning the rationale behind NASCAR’s apprehension. "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," Earnhardt Jr. stated. "I never saw, no disrespect, but I never would’ve worried or considered SRX a problem."
He suggested a different approach, proposing, "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 deliberations within NASCAR extended to the scheduling of events at historic tracks. Text messages between O’Donnell, SVP of Strategy Scott Prime, and another executive, identified only as Phelps, revealed a concerted effort to preempt SRX’s potential involvement at venues like North Wilkesboro and Bowman Gray Stadium.
A June 2022 exchange highlighted this concern:
O’Donnell: "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: "Agreed – North Wilkesboro and Bowman Gray next year with Jr and friends if we don’t make moves."
O’Donnell: "How about this for All Star – make it a combo – Bowman and Wilkes Fri/Sun."
Prime: "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 discussions preceded the eventual return of North Wilkesboro to the Cup Series schedule in 2023 and Bowman Gray Stadium’s planned inclusion in 2025. However, Earnhardt Jr. attributed the resurgence of North Wilkesboro primarily to the efforts of Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith and the North Carolina state government’s "Build Back Better" fund.
"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 further clarified, "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.”
Earnhardt-Miller also highlighted Dale Jr.’s role in galvanizing support for grassroots racing. She pointed to his involvement in bringing the CARS Tour into the fold and his participation in a race that drew an estimated 20,000 fans, an event that predated NASCAR and SMI’s scheduling of the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. While Earnhardt Jr. typically deflects personal credit, his considerable star power undeniably contributed to the success of initiatives like the "Race Track Revival" that brought renewed attention to historic venues.
The antitrust lawsuit itself concluded with a settlement, the terms of which have not been publicly disclosed. However, the insights gleaned from the legal proceedings and the subsequent podcast discussions offer a unique perspective on the internal dynamics and strategic considerations within NASCAR during a period of evolving racing formats and competitive pressures.
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