Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his F1 fandom, and who he'd like to see try NASCAR

NASCAR Hall of Famer and two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently spoke with Hard Rock Bet (for whom he is a brand ambassador) about various topics, ranging from the upcoming season, regrets from his career, and even about a possible cameo in the 2028 Fast and Furious movie.

The son of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr., he was also asked about his Formula 1 fandom and modern stars he’d like to see get behind the wheel of a stock car.

In the recent past, Formula 1 World Champions Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, and Jacques Villeneuve have made a handful of starts at the top level of NASCAR. As for the most successful F1 stars in NASCAR, Dan Gurney won five Cup races, Juan Pablo Montoya won two (and finished as high as eighth in points), and then there’s Mario Andretti, who won the Daytona 500 11 years before he became an F1 World Champion.

“I mean, I would love to see Max Verstappen give it a try,” said Earnhardt, though Verstappen has previously said no to NASCAR and IndyCar opportunities. “He’s incredible and I think his curiosity, his work ethic, I think all of that would play a great role in allowing him to be successful.

“Plus, our cars have changed a lot. Our cars have independent rear suspension, the transaxle diffuser… our cars aren’t the stock cars from 10, 20 years ago, and so I think the opportunity for an F1 guy to have success is much better today than it was 20 years ago.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Max Verstappen at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix

Earnhardt also mentioned Daniel Ricciardo, who ran the No. 3 in F1 in honor of Dale Jr.’s father.

“I was hoping that Daniel Ricciardo would come to NASCAR after his decision to leave Formula 1 and that may still happen. Daniel’s still relatively young.”

And while NASCAR is his life, Earnhardt is a big F1 fan as well and has watched it since Mika Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher were fighting for the title in the the ’90s. He also revealed that he was a big fan of the seven-time world champion, who was the winningest driver in F1 history before Sir Lewis Hamilton’s rise. Earnhardt always wondered what Schumacher could have done behind the wheel of a NASCAR stock car as well.

“I used to watch F1 very heavily back when Michael Schumacher was battling with Mika Häkkinen and those guys, I mean, those were incredible years. I had always wished for the opportunity to hear what Michael Schumacher thought about driving a stock car.

“I only wanted him to be able to get in the car, run a couple hours, and I always thought Michael was the greatest race car driver that I ever knew in my life with everything that he accomplished, and how good he was, and I’m like, you know Dale Earnhardt’s my hero, but Michael Schumacher was the man.

“Unfortunately, I never got to really understand what he might think about a stock car, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that I get excited when drivers from different disciplines from F1, or any car whatever it may be, come over and drive our stuff, because I’m anxious to hear what they say. I have so much admiration for their ability and their disciplines. I know what we’re doing is so different, and it’s fun to hear their opinions and point of view.”