Dale Earnhardt Jr: It's time to have a conversation about NASCAR Overtime Rules

Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes it’s time to have a conversation around the overtime rules in NASCAR. Specifically, the Xfinity Series and Truck Series are catching his attention.

The two-time Daytona 500 winner is thinking there’s a better way we can end these races week-in and week-out. When it comes down to it, if the leader is in front by a certain amount when the overtime-causing caution comes out, Earnhardt Jr. believes the race should be over regardless.

“I think it might be time to have a conversation around overtime in the Trucks and Xfinity,” Earnhardt Jr. stated, via the Dale Jr Download. “I saw this, and I wish I would’ve tagged the person that brought this up, but it was really, really well articulated. I had never thought about it like this. In other sports, overtime is used to help decide a game where the ending is in question. Both teams have ended regulation with the same score.

“Should we apply a more specific, similar framework to NASCAR races? Should we only have an overtime attempt if the lead was contested? We could all sit down, have a long conversation around what a contested lead is. Maybe we all decide that, if the caution came out, if the lead was within one second, that would draw an overtime, because we would then say, ‘Well, it was a contested lead. There was a chance for second to do something in the final lap.’

“If the lead was maybe more than that, by any means, a second-and-a-half to 20 seconds, the race is over. The leader was in clear control on the final lap, and there should be no overtime, because he or she was going to win the race. That’s something that I thought was a really healthy idea.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr: ‘Unnecessary overtimes cost us a lot of race cars’

While fans love the race to the finish between the leaders, Earnhardt Jr. believes mid-pack teams are needlessly tearing up their equipment at the end of these races. For some, it ruins an otherwise solid race, and it’s something the NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee would like to see rectified.

“The reason why is, the Truck teams and the Xfinity teams, we go to some of these racetracks, Daytona and Talladega specifically, and destroy 80% of the field,” Earnhardt Jr. added. “A lot of times we have unnecessary overtimes that cost us a lot of race cars. All of these teams, ours included, are working on a budget.

“Those type of events where you’ll have — you’re sitting there, you’ve got a clean truck or a clean Xfinity car, you’re running P12, you’ve had a long day, you’ve worked hard to get there, and then you have three or four over times for no damn reason or, you know, because somebody makes a bunch of mistakes, and you end up getting the damn body ripped off your car. You come home with a P18 or P20 finish and all the panels are destroyed. It’s frustrating.”

Earnhardt Jr: Cup Series ‘wouldn’t need this safety net’

Even though Earnhardt Jr. believes in the idea, he’s not ready to implement it in the Cup Series just yet, although he could be convinced on the idea in the future: “It’s not necessarily something that we have to do in Cup, because you’re hoping that they’re the elite, best drivers in the world. They wouldn’t need this safety net,” he explained.

“Maybe down in those two other series, we decide, ‘What is a contested lead?’ If it’s not contested and the caution comes out, fans and us as an industry should embrace the idea that that race was over, right? ‘I’m sorry that the caution flag is waving as the winner crosses the finish line, but he or she was in clear control when that caution falls.’

“Now, if it’s a tight battle for the front, then it would trigger an overtime, right? Then we could, you know, just carry on as the rules are today, in that scenario. If you’re tear up a bunch of shit, you tear up a bunch of shit, that’s a risk you take, I suppose.

“I don’t love unlimited overtimes. I would just love — sometimes, man, these races are pretty much decided and over with, and we’ll have, you know, a late yellow or something that draws an overtime. I don’t know. Worth the conversation.”

All told, Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes a compelling case. Perhaps NASCAR will listen to his opinion on the matter, as the idea of ending the race under green is a good one, but it hasn’t always worked out for the Xfinity and Truck Series over the past couple of seasons. A little change wouldn’t hurt.