Dale Earnhardt Jr. Is Worried About Prominent NASCAR Driver

Dale Earnhardt Jr. admit this week that he's pretty concerned about a former NASCAR Cup Series champion. 

During this past Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway, Joey Logano defeated Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and the rest of the field in a thrilling finish. One particular driver from that group threw away a chance to win his first race of the 2025 season. 

For some reason, Blaney chose the inside lane instead of the outside lane during the final restart. That opened the door for Logano to claim first place.

On the latest episode of the "Dale Jr. Download," the former Cup Series driver offered his thoughts on Blaney's costly move. 

Earnhardt believes "something's going on" with Blaney this season. That may explain why he's winless heading into this weekend. 

"Ryan Blaney choosing the second row on the inside instead of starting next to Larson late in the race. And he got out and said, 'Yeah, I messed up.' The only type of driver that I see make that move and I go, 'Oh, okay,' is a guy like [Ross] Chastain. I know that he’s probably thinking,'I’m [expletive] going three-wide here.' But Blaney is not that guy," Earnhardt said. "Blaney is not going to put his fellow competitors in a three-wide situation.

"I feel like in those situations, I know you don’t love restarting on the outside, but I think you have to. You just have to do it. If we get a chance to see Blaney, we’ve got to ask him what’s going on. Something’s going on with Blaney."