Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to racetrack ownership narrative in NASCAR lawsuit: 'Careful what you wish for'

Dale Earnhardt Jr., just like the rest of the NASCAR community, is keeping a close eye on the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports versus NASCAR antitrust lawsuit trial. Through now eight days of court, Earnhardt has heard some things that he doesn’t particularly like.

23XI and FRM have pointed out that NASCAR, along with Marcus Smith‘s Speedway Motorsports, own most of the racetracks on the Cup Series schedule. Earnhardt is hoping that the teams’ goal is not to get NASCAR to sell the tracks in which they own.

“There’s been a point made about NASCAR owning the racetracks. I don’t know that 23XI wants NASCAR to sell their tracks. I’m hoping that’s not really what they’re asking,” Earnhardt said on Tuesday’s Dale Jr. Download. “I think they’re using that against NASCAR because NASCAR did tell some other people like Marcus Smith and so forth, ‘You’re gonna have to sign an exclusivity deal because we don’t want anyone else running a race before we come into town.’

“That’s not unusual in any other sports and arenas and so forth. But I think there’s been something made about NASCAR owning the racetracks and the way they’ve restricted use of those facilities is helping the argument of 23XI.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. issues warning to 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports

Economist Edward Snyder testified Monday that NASCAR has violated antitrust laws because “teams don’t have anywhere else to sell their services,” citing NASCAR’s ownership of “the tracks, the teams and the cars.” Snyder then brought up the exclusivity agreements NASCAR began entering into with racetracks after the charter system began in 2016.

The agreements keep racetracks from hosting events with rival racing series. Snyder, according to The Associated Press, stated his belief that NASCAR entered into the agreements in an effort to stave off any threats of a potential startup series.

If 23XI and FRM’s position is that NASCAR needs to sell their racetracks, Earnhardt strongly encourages them to reconsider. He noted the current landscape in regard to owning racetracks, which he called a non-lucrative business. Earnhardt questions the future of the sport if NASCAR is forced to sell its racetracks.

“It’s kind of got to be a be careful what you wish for kind of thing because No. 1, no one’s building racetracks. Building a racetrack today is not a financial success. Running a racetrack today is not a lucrative operation,” Earnhardt said. “No one is clamoring to go out there and build any type of racetrack, big or small. … No one’s in the business of owning racetracks. Nobody’s gonna be standing on the steps waiting for those tracks to go to the highest bidder.

“If NASCAR and Marcus don’t own these racetracks, who does? They’re gonna turn into development, they’re gonna be turned into Amazon centers — they won’t be racetracks. What will happen is in 10 years, we’ll be racing on a bunch of street courses and road courses, no sh*t. So, everybody kind of be careful around that because as unique as it is, we need NASCAR to own the tracks they own because it’s really a lost or dying sort of business model.”

Day 9 of the trial will resume Thursday. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Western District of North Carolina courthouse in Charlotte.