Dale Earnhardt Jr. has high praise for the new Atlanta after Quaker State 400
From his view in the booth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. loved everything he saw on the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Hall of Famer gushed over the product on the track in year two of the new Atlanta configuration. This car is great on 1.5-mile tracks and they have found a way to let drivers race wide-open on one. It produced quite a race on Sunday.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is someone who loves Atlanta, especially the old track. His father made a lot of history there. The Kevin Harvick win meant a lot of Dale Jr. and his family in 2001. Of course, the man himself got a win there during his iconic career as well.
After the race was over, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took to Twitter to praise the rain-shortened Quaker State 400.
“That was great racing tonight. As edgy as the cars were on a dry track, couldn’t restart it with sprinkles on the track. Woulda been Daytona all over again. Along with the rain came a ton of lightning within 8 miles. Right call to end it. No one loves it. I don’t love it. But right call.
“I can not wait to come back here again,” Dale Jr. continued. He went into what Atlanta means to him. “I have wanted Atlanta to be great and appreciated for so long. I came here as a kid for decades, loving all the success dad had here. Loved winning a race myself here. But the stands have been empty for some time now. Finally we have reason to be excited about racing and big crowds at a track that I was worried we may lose forever.”
There was a ton of excitement behind this race. NASCAR fans seemed to largely agree with Dale Earnhardt Jr. following the race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. enjoyed the Quaker State 400
Even with the rain, this was a really fun race. I’d put it up there with Kansas and Nashville as far as excitement and anticipation throughout the race. Of course, the rain made that a little more exciting since we all knew this race was not going to go the distance.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is right, the decision to call it was the right one. The rain didn’t clear out until around midnight and by the time the jet dryers got the track cleared it would have been in the early hours of the morning. No need to waste everyone’s time here and no need to put drivers in danger. William Byron just got lucky and played a great strategy to end the race.
Those caution laps were a little longer than they needed to be prior to the red flag. However, after the incident last year at Daytona to end the regular season, I don’t blame NASCAR at all. Tearing up cars and putting drivers in danger for a few laps of racing when it won’t even be close to the end of the race, just not worth it.
With the rise of these fantastic intermediate track races, will we see NASCAR move one of these tracks into the playoffs? The 2024 schedule is going to be the most diverse we’ve seen and it would be fun to see them take a chance on putting Kansas or Atlanta in the final 10 races of the season.