Dale Earnhardt Jr. addresses Stewart-Haas charter rumors, makes plea for Tony Stewart to remain in NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is hearing the rumors of Stewart-Haas Racing’s demise, and the NASCAR Hall of Famer is more than disappointed in the possibility.

During the latest episode of Dirty Air, Earnhardt Jr. addressed the rumor that Stewart-Haas Racing is looking to sell all four of their Cup Series charters. Even with all the speculation, Earnhardt Jr. is pleading with Tony Stewart to remain in NASCAR, as he believes Stewart’s presence only helps NASCAR as a whole.

“I heard that their range is $20M to $30M, for a charter. One of the last ones that sold was for $40M, and so now they’re kind of going through a bit of a reset. I mean, I know one sold for $40M, but from everything that I’ve learned, and all the things that we’ve dug up over the last three or four years, the true value is not near $40M. So yeah, $20M to $25M is more in the ballpark of what I think they should be going for. The question is, will Stewart-Haas sell all four of them? Does Tony Stewart and [Gene] Haas get out entirely? Holy s—. That would be weird,” Earnhardt Jr. stated. “But I mean, it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of — I don’t know. I don’t want to speculate. But I hope that Tony Stewart doesn’t leave NASCAR entirely. That would suck. I just think he’s an icon. He’s a motorsports icon. Done it all.

“Even though he physically wants to spend a lot of time with his drag racing, and he’s a performer and drives and he’s still out there actively racing, I still love the idea of him having ownership in anything in our sport, because of his legacy. He’s an icon. He’s like A.J. Foyt. So I hope that that’s not what happens. I hope that they don’t entirely remove themselves from the sport. We’ll see how that goes, man. That’s pretty crazy.”

In addition to his affinity for Stewart, two of Earnhardt Jr.’s star pupils race for Stewart-Haas Racing in Josh Berry and Noah Gragson. Both are in their first season with the team, and it would be a shame for Berry and Gragson to have to look for new rides after a rollercoaster season with the team.

Regardless, the speculation will run wild until we have a final resolution. From Dale Earnhardt Jr. to everyone in between, even Stewart-Haas Racing’s own Chase Briscoe is wondering what will happen to the team that was once on top of the NASCAR world.