Dale Jr. chides NASCAR to do more with the car

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday that NASCAR needs to be more proactive in making the car better.

Dale Jr. has never been a fan of this new car. He's been clear on that before. But he seems to be starting a new campaign to build some pressure against NASCAR to work more on finding ways to make the car more drivable. No doubt he's not the only driver who has said in the past they didn't like this car but many of those comments have quieted. Dale Jr. said earlier this week to the Atlanta Jorunal Consitiution that "If I can be honest, I feel like NASCAR has seemingly been reluctant to let this car evolve more freely.''

Asked about the comments he made, Dale Jr. continued his campaign Friday:

"What I'm getting at is, I think we need to open our eyes a little bit. Everyone. I think the media could address it a little stronger, and I think the drivers could be a little more vocal about it. NASCAR could probably be a litltle more urgent in improving our product. where the ultimate result is great, exciting racing that the fans will enjoy, that the drivers enjoy, so everyone is happy. That should be our quest always. Even when things are good. I feel like, especially right now, we need to really, really try to turn over every stone and that includes where we are with this COT and where we feel like it's development is and where we feel like it's future goes and where we feel like this car goes, how it evolves. I want ... just to have a sense of urgency over the last couple of weeks, I guess, to see if we can do better.

"Where that comes from is the double-file restarts, the spark that that really put into the racing. I enjoyed. I think all the drivers enjoy it. I think the fans love it. We need more of that. The double-file restarts give us that opportunity to be exciting for only a moment. We need to figure out how we can maintain that throughout the entire race. I just remembrer how the other cars drove. I liked how they drove. I like how this car is safe, but I want to be able to race it like we raced the other cars.

"I'm not trying to start a crusade against nobody or cause nobody any problems. I think the drivers, myself included, we would all work together with NASCAR to do this. I'm just trying to remind everyone of the optimal goal and prize for us is to have better racing. Even when things are good, we shouldn't rest on any success we may be having. We're not really where we want to be, I don't think as a sport. We need to do things excite corporate America, and excite the fans. We need to be proactive immediately to make that happen.

(Asked how he would grade the racing before the double-file restarts,)

"Before that, I thought it was rather poor. I did. The races to me were very poor, and we almost depended on a late caution to save the day to make somebody race side-by-side for a couple of laps at least within 10 laps of the finish of the race. Somehow that saved the day. And then there was no argument the next week. It would go away. It was very frustarting because 95 percent of the race wasn't worth the price of the ticket.''

OK, NASCAR Nation, what do you think of what Dale Jr. said? Is this just someone who can't figure out the car whining? Or is this a legimiate complaint that Dale Jr. seems to be the only one publcly speaking about right now? What's your take on Dale Jr.'s comments?

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