Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to North Wilkesboro texts unveiled in 23XI, FRM vs. NASCAR trial

While Dale Earnhardt Jr. had nothing to do with the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit, his name came up in text messages that were used as exhibits. Dale Jr. was mentioned along with the concerns from NASCAR leaders regarding the SRX Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was integral in getting North Wilkesboro revived. First, he immortalized it by getting it scanned for iRacing. Then, it happened in real life. In 2026, Wilkesboro will be a points-paying race!

Before the lawsuit was settled, Dale Jr. talked about it on his podcast, the Dale Jr. Download. He reacted to his name being brought up in this lawsuit.

“Listen, there is a lot of stuff about NASCAR in all of this that I don’t know,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “I don’t know everything about how they run things, and I certainly didn’t know how they felt about some things, and how these text messages have unveiled some things. But I’ll tell you what I do know, is that North Wilkesboro came back because of Marcus Smith … NASCAR, you know, they didn’t play any role. Now, they have to go, when Marcus comes up and says, ‘Man, I’ve got this track back together, I want to put it on the schedule.’ They’ve gotta go, ‘Okay, good.’

“But, look, NASCAR never was going, ‘Guys, we gotta get Wilkesboro going.’ This isn’t a knock to them, you know, this isn’t a knock to them, they shouldn’t take this as an insult, but Wilkesboro is back because of everybody else. The government, our local government, and the town, a lot of volunteers. F**king, 20 years of volunteers, people just like even keeping the grass mowed for 20 years. All of those reasons, the fact that they kept the track in somewhat reasonable shape, to even be considered to be brought back. Those people should be commended. You know, we can go on about this.”

This lawsuit has touched all parts of the sport. So many teams and individuals were brought up in the litigation who were uninvolved. Richard Childress might have irreparable feelings towards NASCAR leadership now.

While it doesn’t appear Dale Earnhardt Jr. took it personally, it’s a close call. In the end, NASCAR gave teams permanent charters and other concessions. Most of those were asked for during the years of negotiations. So, was it all worth it?