NASCAR EVP John Probst recently proposed the introduction of a crossover utility vehicle (CUV) EV in the O'Reilly Series by 2030, sparking a debate in the NASCAR world. Among the sea of critics, Kenny Wallace stood out as a supporter of the proposed decision, but Dale Earnhardt Jr was quick to question him.

For the unversed, Probst's reasoning for the proposal was building an identity for the O'Reilly Series from a car design perspective, which would help please the existing OEMs and lure new ones to compete.

When a fan on X asked Kenny Wallace whether NASCAR can survive without its current OEMs in the context of Probst's EV comments, the former FOX NASCAR reporter replied, "Racing is automakers. Cars against Cars."

This reply caught the eye of Dale Jr., who not only is a former driver but also owns JR Motorsports in O'Reilly. He replied to Wallace's X post, writing, "I don’t buy into this entirely. Or at least I’ve got some questions. The SUV dominates the market at nearly 60% market share, followed by the pickup. Sedans are third and have fallen from 50% to below 20% in the past decade. Why hasn’t the Cup series then morphed into SUVs?"

He further wrote, "Decades ago, the cars more resembled the showroom model. We haven’t had that since the 90s. How automakers value and utilize the racing industry has evolved and changed. What seems to matter now more than anything is eyeballs, and more and more are pointing toward the O’Reilly series."

To put into context what the Hall of Famer mentioned, the viewership for the O'Reilly series has been rising steadily. According to CW, the Rockingham race recorded an average viewership of 1,165,000, which is an 11% increase compared to last year's race at the track. Moreover, the average viewership through the first seven races of the season was 1.282 million per race.

Dale Jr thinks that pursuing the CUV EV direction just when the O'Reilly Series is gaining popularity could lead to the sport's decline.

Dale Earnhardt Jr's strong opposition to EVs in O'Reilly

Even before disagreeing with Kenny Wallace's view, Dale Jr. had opposed the CUV EV direction for O'Reilly. On his podcast, "Dale Jr Download," the NASCAR Hall of Famer said:

"The O'Reilly Series has got a lot of good things going right now. Viewership is continuously on the rise, and our cars, we can all kind of relate to those cars when we look at them, and we see them on the racetrack. I think making a switch to anything unlike what we have would be a massive, massive mistake."

Dale Jr., who owns JR Motorsports, also added that he would not be interested in competing in the O'Reilly Series if NASCAR were to make the switch to CUV EVs.

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yask Kotak