Dale Jr Reveals Internal NASCAR Battle Blocking Rockingham Comeback

“There is still a part of me that is annoyed that we left in the first place. I don’t want to kind of beat this dead horse. I would love for us to go back there,” said Earnhardt Jr. on his podcast. “We’ve got this core fan base that loves Rockingham, that loves full season points, loves all these things that are very traditional and connected to the history of the sport.”

It was just last year that the Truck Series and O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Series returned to Rockingham, and that too to a sellout crowd on Easter weekend. The racing too was fast and action-packed.

The same being followed in the Cup Series would be the dream, but that won’t be an easy one to achieve.

Hurdles Rockingham faces in search of a Cup race

Rockingham struggles due to its lack of facilities as compared to tracks like the Chicago Street Course.

The latter saw a huge influx of crowds last year and even helped NASCAR generate a lot of money.

“We have doors opening to us that weren’t open before, like racing in San Diego is a great example.” He added further, “The Chicago Street Course. Those were not doors that were open 15 years ago.”

Dale Jr agrees that NASCAR is in a tough spot, “NASCAR has all these shiny new things, and they look over here and go ‘Rockingham, that’s cool, but you know we did that’ so they’re in a tough spot. There ain’t enough calendar for all of it. Something has to go,” said Dale Jr.

The only hope for Rockingham is to outdo expectations in the O’Reilly and Truck Series. Whether they will ever be considered for a return to the Cup Series is a question only time will tell, but the memories from those epic races will forever stay with the fans.