Dale Earnhardt Jr. Rips NASCAR For Controversial 2025 Decision

You can always count on NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. to weigh in on any major decision that NASCAR makes. 

The latest change that has gotten under peoples' skins is NASCAR's decision to move their annual "The Clash" exhibition race to Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, North Carolina after racing the last two years at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was held at Daytona before that.

For Dale Jr. though, moving The Clash to North Carolina just makes him roll his eyes. On the latest episode of his Dale Jr. Download podcast, the former NASCAR champion said that the race has lost all of its prestige now that it's been moved away from Daytona and expanded to allowing almost any team to compete in it.

“Back when The Clash was running at Daytona, and they continued to expand the field, the idea was that there were partners, brands and sponsors going, ‘Why isn’t my car in this race? I want my car in this race.’ And then there were moments when like me or a big-name person wasn’t in The Clash. And so, the rules of eligibility were continuously massaged and twisted to basically just kind of include any team,” Earnhardt said. “We used to make the joke like hey man, you got a valid driver’s license, you’re eligible for The Clash. It had become a joke, and it took a lot of the legitimacy or the uniqueness and specialness out of The Clash.