Dale Earnhardt Jr. has responded to Kyle Petty‘s support for NASCAR’s Next Gen car. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt fired back at Petty, saying that the car does not “produce” like it has in the past.
“I really, really respect Kyle, I think the world of him, and I appreciate his opinion,” Earnhardt said. “But I would just disagree that the car doesn’t produce what I expect.”
“Again, going back 75 years, I know Kyle’s been around a long time, the car doesn’t produce the kind of racing that I know we are capable of at road courses and short tracks,” Earnhardt said. “The car does not produce the type of racing that I think should be our standard, and I know what we’re capable of at road courses and short tracks; and I would not stop at trying to achieve f****** amazing great racing at those style tracks.”
Earlier this week, Kyle Petty appeared on the Performance Racing Network to defend the current NASCAR product. He also called out Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has been outspoken about the Next Gen car.
What Kyle Petty said to about NASCAR’s Next Gen car and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“We had one of our prominent members of the NASCAR community, Dale Jr., criticize the Next Gen car the other day. I don’t think that criticism is deserved in a lot of ways,” Petty said. “We have not raced stock cars since about 1958. We don’t race stock cars, we race NASCARs. This is the NASCAR car that we have today. People complained in the 70s when they went to tubular chassis. They complained when we went to radial tires. They’ve complained all along as the progression of the cars.
“We were still racing cars with carburetors when you couldn’t go to your local auto parts store and buy a carburetor. It was an antiquated car that we were racing and people seemed to want to have that antiquated car. This car jumped leap years ahead. We have to adjust to it.”
Fans, drivers and experts seem to be on Earnhardt’s side when it comes to the Next Gen car. After the Watkins Glen race this past weekend, fans expressed their frustration online, which led to NASCAR insiders and drivers sharing their thoughts on NASCAR’s current product.
NASCAR began using the Next Gen car in 2022. It was scheduled to debut at the 2021 Daytona 500, but the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues caused NASCAR to delay the debut for a year.
This story is developing.
