Dale Earnhardt Jr. Strongly Disagrees With Kyle Petty's Claim About Next Gen Car originally appeared on The Spun.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn't backing down from his criticism of NASCAR's Next Gen car.
The NASCAR Hall of Famer recently admonished the sport's newest iteration of race cars during last week's Dale Jr. Download podcast.
"I don't love the Next Gen car," Earnhardt said. "It's an IMSA car. It's a sports car. It's got a diffuser. It's got low-profile tires, it's got big rims and big brakes. It's a sports car. It's not a NASCAR stock car, but it’s here. Everybody’s invested."
Kyle Petty called Earnhardt's criticism undeserved, claiming the Next Gen car has "jumped leap years ahead" of past cars. The son of legendary driver Richard Petty celebrated the sport's progression of the Next Gen cars, which NASCAR introduced in 2022.
"We have not raced stock cars since about 1958," Petty said. "We don't race stock cars. We race NASCARs … We have to adjust to it. This is the racing we have. Embrace it, enjoy it. We're seeing some spectacular stuff on the race track, and I think it's only going to get better."
Travis Rockhold, a producer for Earnhardt's Dirty Mo Media company, responded to a clip of Petty's comments by writing, "I'd like to ask Kyle what spectacular stuff has he seen."
Earnhardt replied to Rockhold's snarky post with a Seinfeld GIF of Cosmo Kramer saying, "Frankly, it sounds made up."
NASCAR historian Brock Beard replied to Petty's comments to claim the real issue is that teams are no longer able to innovate and improve their cars without facing penalties. Petty said the Next Gen cars are a result of NASCAR's "proactive" approach to steering that innovation.
"A racecar, as you know from history, is a constantly changing and evolving piece of equipment," Petty replied. "In time it can and will change. The problem right now is we live in a world of instant gratification. No one wants to wait."
Earnhardt acknowledged on his podcast that the Next Gen cars are here to stay, and he's still rooting for NASCAR's prosperity.
"I believe in a successful NASCAR, and I want NASCAR to succeed and be the best thing going," he said. "But I'm not an influencer on what they're gonna do with their race car. I wish I was … I wish that they would bring in a couple of guys that could help them maybe make a couple of changes or steer the thing in a different direction. That's not going to happen."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Strongly Disagrees With Kyle Petty's Claim About Next Gen Car first appeared on The Spun on Aug 12, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
Read the full article here