Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Steve Phelps 'no bullshit' comment on new manufacturers interest in NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some interesting things to say about Steve Phelps‘ comments on NASCAR potentially adding new manufacturers. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt reacted to Phelps saying there’s no “bullshit” about new manufacturers coming to NASCAR.

“I think he’s telling the truth,” Earnhardt said. “What worries me is, so I believe there are absolutely manufacturers interested in being involved. Of course, yes they want to compete. Manufacturers would want to be in motorsports. ….But it’s got to make sense for them. They’ve got to be able to utilize that motorsports into selling production cars or being successful at the dealership or on the showroom floor or online or however you want to buy your car. That to me I believe has got to be the motivating factor for a new OEM (original equipment manufacturer) coming in. It’s like well, what does this do for our sales in the United States?

“…The main worry is what are we willing to do to get them in? Oh man, I’m not going to like any of it. Is it hybrid engines, is it less horsepower? …Are those changes that they would like? They’re not probably going to be changes that we want as fans.”

Phelps, the president of NASCAR, made the comments in a recent interview with Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal. “We are having robust discussions with a number of [original equipment] partners that someday, if I had to guess and were a betting man, something is going to hit,” Phelps said, per Sportskeeda. “I just don’t know with whom or the timing of that. I know that’s an answer l’ve given repeatedly over the last five years, but they’re facts. There’s no bullshit in the comment I just made.”

Phelps did not reveal when a new manufacturer would sign a deal with NASCAR. However, NASCAR’s chief racing development officer John Probst told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio in an older interview that a new manufacturer could come in the next two years.

“A timeline for a new OEM coming into our sport is somewhere in the 18- to 24-month period,” Probst said. “When we work with our existing partners, obviously it’s important for us to make sure that any new partner coming in would be a complement to what we have here today.“

NASCAR currently has three manufacturers — Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford. There have been three manufacturers since Dodge left NASCAR after the 2012 season.