Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t shying away from criticism.
The former NASCAR driver remains one of the biggest and recognizable personalities in the sport, even though he retired from full-time racing back in 2018. Now, he acts as a commentator of the sport, and inked a deal to join Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery as they get in on the sport of racing in 2025.
Previously, Earnhardt Jr. had been a member of NBC’s broadcast since he called it quits. Many thought that he wouldn’t leave the network, but he proved those people wrong when he joined NASCAR’s new partners: Amazon and Warner.
And while he now has the glamorous job of providing commentary instead of being behind the wheel, Dale Jr. still has a desire to improve his craft. The 50-year-old actually went in more depth on that topic when he sat down with the Rubbin’ Is Racing podcast recently.
The subject of critique by fans being unavoidable came up, and the former driver suggested that people getting upset is just a part of life in media:
“Whoever is doing the races at the time, that’s the people that are going to get the criticism and critique. As soon as NBC would pick up the broadcast, everybody would go, ‘Man, I can’t wait until FOX is doing this again.’ It just kind of comes with the territory.”
Though that might make it sound like Dale Jr. doesn’t care much for what fans have to say, his viewpoint on the matter is actually the opposite.
Earnhardt Jr. surprisingly loves the criticism, and actively seeks it out. That being said, he’s careful about where he goes to look for feedback. Translation: he’s not looking in the toxic reply sections on Instagram and X.
He’s got another place that he prefers:
“I like it because it drives me to be perfect. I know I’m not going to be perfect, but it makes me want to do a really good job. I kind of like (the criticism and) I read the criticism… I would not read the comments on certain apps, but one of the places I do trust criticism is Reddit.”
Ah yes. The lovely, online world of Reddit.
That’s what I love about the beautiful forum known as Reddit. The site acts as a great sounding board that often gives unfiltered, non-sponsored, thoughtful reviews on just about anything you could think of… which is why Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels like he can trust what’s being said on the website.
Everyone knows the social media comment section is as ugly and unproductive as criticism can get. But with Reddit… there’s a level of effort that’s present in the online forums. I’ve often read product reviews and trip advice on Reddit many times and it’s never led me astray.
Dale Jr. feels the same way, only he’s going to Reddit to see what NASCAR fans are saying about he and his team’s broadcast:
“Reddit NASCAR, they have this way of being critical but also giving you the reasons why, you know? It’s not just… they don’t just s**t on you and leave.
They say, ‘Hey man, this wasn’t good, and I wish they would do it this way, or I wish this would happen.’ The criticism is actually kind of helpful.”
Nothing like a little bit of constructive criticism to light a fire underneath you.
And hey, if you’ve ever wanted to get in touch with Dale Earnhardt Jr., he just revealed the one place online that he often goes to. Feel free to go ahead and bombard the Reddit NASCAR page with questions, concerns, criticisms and compliments directed at Dale Jr..
You can listen to the entire episode of Rubbin’ Is Racing with Dale Earnhardt Jr. below:
