Dale Jr on the health of asphalt short track racing

[ron.brown11]

Here's an article of Dale's interview at the SC 400 last Sat night

Dale Earnhardt Jr. offers thoughts on the state of short track racing

Richard Allen | Nov 26 2024 | NASCAR

 

(Photo: Dale Earnhardt Jr.)

Many fans of short track racing, whether pavement or dirt, often deride NASCAR and its competitors saying that the form of motorsports they prefer is “real racing” while NASCAR and the other top sanctioning bodies are staged and/or overly dramatic. That may or may not be true, but either way, the impact of having a top NASCAR star come to a grassroots track is very real and significant.

Dirt racing fans see this frequently when Kyle Larson participates on clay. And recently, Kyle Busch has become more involved in short track racing through his son’s entry into the sport.

One look at the grandstands during Saturday night’s South Carolina 400 at the Florence Motor Speedway in Timmonsville, SC clearly showed what can happen when someone from NASCAR lets it be known that they intend to race in an event. This is not to say that there would not have been a solid crowd on hand for one of the more prestigious Late Model Stock Car races on the schedule, but having Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the house no doubt added some bodies and amped up the enthusiasm.

And it certainly didn’t hurt that his team employed a Budweiser-themed scheme with the No. 8 emblazoned on the side of the Chevrolet machine to help rekindle old memories among the patrons.

Without a doubt, Junior sold a great deal of merchandise and his fans were treated with another night of seeing their hero tear around a race track. But the 2021 inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame knows that the best thing about his presence was the exposure for other drivers, the race track, and this form of motorsports.

“Amazing crowd here tonight, so many fans with our old Bud gear out,” Earnhardt told FloRacing.com during the streaming broadcast. “I'm so thankful for everybody supporting not only what I'm doing, but what this track is doing, and short track racing and grassroots racing and Late Model Stock racing. It's awesome for all of these drivers to have all these people out here, some of them being here for the first time, experiencing Florence for the first time, experiencing Late Model Stocks for the first time, and seeing some of these drivers race for the first time.”

The hope for the 15-time Most Popular Driver at the NASCAR Cup Series level is that fans who attended on Saturday will have had such a good time that they will come back.

“So hopefully they go home excited and happy, and they come back and support the track more,” he said. “But it's just awesome, man, the whole response to the car. I didn't anticipate or know what to expect, and people seem really happy about it, and I'm thankful for Budweiser to allow us to do it, and thankful for all the fans to support it, and hopefully we can give them a good run.”

Perhaps because of Junior’s participation, the South Carolina 400 had a crowd that matched another big Late Model event that is held annually at a NASCAR facility.

“I mean, honestly, outside of the 300 at Martinsville(Valley Star Credit Union 300), this is the largest car count for any Late Model race this year, probably absolutely the toughest field next to the Martinsville race,” the two-time Daytona 500 winner declared. “I never, when I signed up for this one, had no clue it was going to be 50(car count) cars showing up. I didn't know if they'd have enough to send anybody home. But it turned into a really huge event. And it's full of really, really good race cars and good drivers.”

Earnhardt, along with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, is a co-owner of the CARS Tour, which showcases pavement Late Model racing. He believes this form of racing is heading down the right path.

“I think it says a lot about it moving in a good direction,” he stated. “We love being part of the CARS Tour, what the CARS Tour has become. But I think the cars tour stands on the shoulders of the weekly racing series right in those tracks. And we have to really have those be healthy, be successful, for the CARS Tour to survive. So, that's important. I pay attention to the weekly racing and how tracks are going, their car counts, and fans reaction, and fans attendance and all that stuff. I kind of pay attention to some of the tracks to get an idea of how the health is like for short track racing and grassroots and car counts are a good indicator.”

He's very hopeful that for the future of asphalt short track racing, but realizes that NASCAR, Carts Tout and the local tracks/drivers need each other for success. There's a lot to be skeptical about when talking about NASCAR. But without them, the CARS Tour and local Sat night racing will flounder. Most would think that not having NASCAR around would only affect asphalt racing. I believe not having them would hurt all local and touring racing.