Dale Earnhardt Jr., a retired NASCAR driver known for his candid opinions, voiced strong criticism of the NASCAR minimum speed rule during the latest episode of his “Dale Jr. Download” podcast, recorded days after a turbulent race weekend at Texas. Despite stepping away from driving years ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. remains a significant figure in the racing community, quickly igniting debate after declaring the rule “ridiculous” in light of an incident involving one of his JR Motorsports drivers.
While recapping the race at Texas, Dale Earnhardt Jr. discussed Carson Kvapil’s misfortune after the driver went off course, echoing a personal experience from 2014. However, focus shifted when Justin Allgaier, another member of Earnhardt’s team, saw his chances at victory evaporate during the third stage. Allgaier had been leading an impressive 99 laps before he ran into the back of Kris Wright’s much slower, lapped car—a collision that Earnhardt believes was avoidable, but highlights a bigger issue with how slow cars interact on the track.
Offering some empathy, Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged that lapped drivers “always knew where to be” in the past, but argued that this awareness seemed to be lacking in this incident. Describing his reaction, Earnhardt said,
“Look, if our car doesn’t run into Kris, I got no problem at all. Only reason why I’m even a bit upset about it is because it was our guy that got involved in it. But for years there’s been slow independents out there grinding away on the racetrack. They always knew where to be.”
He insisted the slower car’s driver needs to reconsider how to let faster competitors pass safely, suggesting that others managed without issue.
Most notably, Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not place all the blame on the driver in question, instead blasting NASCAR’s rulebook. With visible frustration, he stated,
“I’m not gonna give the guy a ton of [expletive]. What I can say is and I’ve had this problem for a long time back even when I was way early in my own driving career, the minimum speed rule is not worth anything. The minimum speed rule is egregiously lenient. It’s ridiculous.”
His critique centered on the idea that the standard allows cars that are significantly off the pace to linger on the track, jeopardizing the outcome for those racing up front.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. elaborated on his discomfort with harsher language, saying,
“I don’t like using the word joke because I don’t like – that’s a hot take, a trigger word that it’s insulting a bit when you use it talking about the governing body and things that we’re doing in the sport. I hate using that word and so I hesitate to use it. The minimum speed rule and if you look at what minimum speed is at all these racetracks it is ridiculous. It is ridiculous and it should be a much more tougher thing to achieve.”
His remarks suggest a growing dissatisfaction among some in the racing world, who see this regulation as outdated and too forgiving.
The impact of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s public criticism remains to be seen, but his strong statements are likely to add intensity to ongoing conversations about NASCAR’s rules and safety protocols. With passionate and influential voices like his demanding reform, pressure could mount on the sport’s leadership to toughen the minimum speed rule. As more drivers and teams grapple with the consequences of lenient enforcement, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s challenge to NASCAR’s approach adds urgency and may foreshadow meaningful regulatory changes ahead.
