Dale Earnhardt Jr. sends clear message to fans over electric NASCAR, future after EV prototype unveiling

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is putting NASCAR fans at ease following the electric vehicle prototype unveiling that took place over the weekend in Chicago.

While some sections of NASCAR have been worried an EV series would replace one of NASCAR’s top three series, or even infringe on the Cup Series one day, Earnhardt Jr. let the world know that won’t be happening anytime soon.

“So many people were freaking out,” Earnhardt Jr. started, via the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download. “I tweeted out about that. I sat on it for a day, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to have a reaction and then have to wheel it back.’ But I got to thinking, and they had this little video of it, you know, throttling up and taking off, and I was like, ‘Dude, that looks exactly like the slot cars that I raced.’ … It’s just like that. … It’s a big toy. That’s all it is. Nothing to be scared of.”

A big toy is the perfect way to describe it to ease fans concerns about an EV series coming to NASCAR. Continuing, Earnhardt Jr. made sense of a reported partnership with Nitrocross, where NASCAR is looking to showcase the car, but he again preached calmness regarding the situation.

“Everybody was like, ‘What are we going to do? What’s this replacing?’ Everybody is like, ‘I don’t want it to replace anything.’ And then, a couple days later, or a day later, Adam Stern says, ‘Hey, NASCAR may be investing in Nitrocross,’ and now they’re going, ‘Alright, well maybe that’s where this car could live.’ There could be like a pavement portion to Nitrocross that this car could exist,” the NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee elaborated. “So I’m not worried about it, sort of infringing on what we love about NASCAR, and the three series, the top three series, Truck, Xfinity and Cup.”

One of the main complaints with NASCAR regarding their EV prototype was the look of the car, and Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t exactly a fan either. Regardless, he doesn’t think that’ll be an issue moving forward, especially when manufacturers get their hands on the prototype, and mold it in their own image.

“There was a bunch of comments about the way it looked. I don’t have a problem with the car, but the way it looks. NASCAR’s not great at designing a generic, initial, introduction car. They’re not car designers, we get it. This is not what it’s going to really, truly look like, when it’s all said and done, once the manufacturers get a hold of it,” Earnhardt Jr. added. “If it were to become a series, they would certainly want it to look more like what you’re selling on the street.

“NASCAR, they kind of, this is sort of — they gave it a bit of Car of Tomorrow vibe, which won’t serve them very well, but I’m not too worried about the visual look of the car.”

It’ll be fascinating where NASCAR’s EV prototype ends up next, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t concerned about it taking over the sport. That should put even the most restless fans at ease, as the two-time Daytona 500 winner has his finger on the pulse, for sure.