Dale Earnhardt Jr. warned NASCAR about the risks of repaving the Iowa Speedway. The retired NASCAR Hall of Famer believes a complete repave of the short track would be a detriment to the racing product in the coming years.
Prior to this past weekend’s Cup Series race, the Iowa Speedway announced it would undergo the repave project. In addition, next year’s Cup Series race at the track will take place on July 4th weekend.
While Earnhardt Jr. does not want to see the track fully repaved, he believes giving some of the racing surface a new coat of asphalt could make the Iowa Speedway a “legendary” track.
Earnhardt Jr. on Iowa repave: ‘They should leave it alone’
During a recent episode of “The Dale Jr. Download,” Earnhardt Jr. explained Iowa Speedway’s decision to undergo a repave.
With widened gaps in between the older asphalt and the newer asphalt of the 0.875-mile track, it sparked concern, leading to the decision.
However, Earnhardt Jr. pointed to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon as a similar track that is not getting a repave.
“If you look at the racetrack surface, the gaps are starting to widen between the new asphalt and the old asphalt. People say, ‘Well, I can almost put my whole cell phone in between the cracks,’ but I mean, [expletive], dude, we’re going to Loudon where that’s been the case for 20 years. … I think they should leave it alone,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Earnhardt Jr. recalls Pocono Raceway being in a similar situation in the early 2010s, where the track had a patch of old asphalt in turn three. Instead of doing a complete repave, the track put a “grip strip” over top of the old asphalt, allowing cars to drive on top of it.
While NASCAR figured the grip strip would be a non-factor, Earnhardt Jr. said it made for some fun racing.
“We went there for a test. … It didn’t take long for all of us to find that grip strip up there and holy [expletive] it was fast. Way faster. I’m gonna tell you right now. Pocono is pretty damn fun, but that right there was some cool [expletive],” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Earnhardt Jr. believes Iowa Speedway should pump the brakes on the entire repave and focus on only applying new asphalt to the top two grooves, where the surface is worn the most.
If they were to do that, the former Hendrick Motorsports driver believes the track could become “legendary.”
“If Iowa wanted to become [expletive] legendary, they would only pave the old asphalt that they didn’t get the first time, which was basically the third and the fourth lane. The last two lanes way up there. You want to see some [expletive] awesome racing? You’ve got two new grooves on the bottom. They’re only a couple of years old. Leave it alone. Only repave the older [expletive],” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Earnhardt Jr. believes Iowa’s racing product will suffer with repave
If the Iowa Speedway were to go with Earnhardt Jr.’s idea, he believes it would make for incredible on-track action.
Unfortunately, Earnhardt Jr. said that is not going to be the case and the track will move forward with a full repave. Earnhardt Jr. warned NASCAR that the racing quality will take a hit with a brand new repave.
“You would see some of the most epic racing that you’ve seen in a really long time. I would guarantee it. I would guarantee it, but they’re not going to do that. They’re going to pave the entire track and it’s just going to suck. It will suck for a couple years,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Like every track repave, Earnhardt Jr. said the on-track product suffers. Yet, if they are smart, the 51-year-old said they will opt to only do the partial repave over the worn asphalt.
“It’s inevitable that the product is going to suffer just a little bit, but man, if they were smart enough to just pave those top two lanes, holy [expletive] would that be cool,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
Despite Earnhardt Jr.’s concerns, he believes once the track’s surface starts to age after a few years, the racing quality will pick back up.
“If we can get three years, four years down the road, it’ll be a great track as it is. I think it’s put on some really good races,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
The Iowa Speedway is the first track to be repaved since Sonoma Raceway prior to the 2024 season. It is the first oval track to get a new coat of asphalt since the Atlanta Motor Speedway prior to the 2022 season.
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