Dale Earnhardt Jr. has fired back at Ryan Blaney and other NASCAR drivers after recent remarks about fan frustrations and racing quality, drawing a stark line between driver perceptions and real fan concerns. The exchange unfolded as the season progressed, raising urgent questions about the state of the sport and how fans truly feel about dominant performances versus broader issues on the track.
The debate began when several drivers, including Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney, publicly discussed whether dominant driver performances were to blame for fans’ dissatisfaction at recent races. On his latest podcast episode, Dale Earnhardt Jr. called out this narrative, insisting that fans are far less concerned about one driver’s dominance—something he describes as a “good ass-kicking”—than they are about technical and structural shortcomings in NASCAR races. Earnhardt Jr. emphasized,
“There were some comments from some drivers. Larson was one of them, and Blaney was one of them. Listen, there’s been some duds. There’s been like, six or seven duds of a race, up until Texas. Texas was pretty entertaining. But before Texas, we had a stretch of races on Jeff Gluck’s good race poll that was like, 50 and below, and that was real. That was a real concern, from fans. It was genuine complaint.”
According to Earnhardt Jr., the narrative that dominance by drivers like Ryan Blaney is driving fans away is misplaced. Instead, he argued the primary complaints have been related to the quality of the racing product itself—particularly when it comes to how the current cars are handling on various tracks. Citing conversations with fans and polling data, he explained that factors like poor racing at short tracks or difficulties with cars in “dirty air” environments have been the root of dissatisfaction, not who finishes at the front.
“Somebody said to Larson, ‘Are you looking forward to coming to Kansas after the last several weeks?’ You know, after how the race has been kind of ho-hum. He’s like, him and a couple of other drivers, Blaney included, were like, ‘Well, if a guy kicks ass, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad race.’ Nobody’s complaining about ass kicking. Nobody ever complained about Larson or anyone else kicking ass and just kicking pure ass all day long. Nobody complained about that. I don’t know where Larson and Blaney are going with that comment, because nobody complained about the ass kicking.”
Earnhardt Jr. went on to clarify that while Ryan Blaney and others appear to believe fans are tired of seeing a single driver dominate, the reality appears much more complex. He stressed,
“What we complained about are the things that the drivers were complaining about, and had been complaining about. The car doesn’t race well on short tracks. The car is difficult in dirty air. It’s amazing at the mile-and-a-halves, and so we’re excited to go to Kansas and Charlotte and all the mile-and-a-halves, because it’s good there, but it doesn’t race well in some other areas. We came out of Talladega, and it was, you know, there’s a lot of comments from drivers about how it races at Daytona and Talladega. All the fans just agree with that. That’s all we’re doing, just agreeing with what we’re hearing from drivers.”
This ongoing discussion about Ryan Blaney and his commentary on NASCAR fan opinions underscores a disconnect between how drivers and fans perceive issues within the sport. For many fans, seeing a skilled competitor dominate isn’t a problem—if anything, strong performances are often admired. Instead, their frustration is aimed at the spectacle itself, with sluggish action at certain tracks and a product that sometimes fails to meet their expectations.
Earnhardt Jr.’s frank analysis, citing polls and public sentiment, reinforces that NASCAR’s problems are more deeply rooted than Ryan Blaney or any single driver’s run at the front. When asked about fans’ attitudes, Earnhardt Jr. responded,
“We see the race play out at a short track or Talladega, we see a product that we’re not entirely in love with. The drivers get out and tell us why it looks that way and we go, ‘Okay, great. We agree.’ So, I was a little bit confused by that. Nobody was ever really complaining that somebody’s kicking too much ass. Larson’s been insane this year, and if he continues to be, I think that, you know, the purest and the fans who truly enjoy the sport will appreciate a good ass kicking.”
As the All-Star Race approaches, all eyes will be on Ryan Blaney and those who shape the dialogue between the drivers and the fans. With Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s pointed remarks laying bare the divide, NASCAR faces intense scrutiny over whether it can align its product with what its most loyal supporters want. The conversation has grown more heated, and what unfolds next may well shape the future of fan engagement and how drivers, like Ryan Blaney, perceive their role in the sport’s ongoing evolution.
