Earnhardt Jr gets passionate over COTA changes – | Sports News

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. has admitted that he previously was not a fan of Circuit of the Americas – before performing a U-turn on his view after changes to the racetrack. The famous venue is one of seven road courses which form part of the Cup Series schedule.

Having been introduced in 2021, the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix has proven popular among fans, with its latest edition havin taken place on March 2. Joe Gibbs Racing star Christopher Bell took the checkered flag in Austin, Texas after a thrilling tussle for the spoils with Kyle Busch.

The man in the No. 20 Toyota chased his rival down to earn victory, with William Byron and Tyler Reddick rounding out the top-three. Ultimately, Busch’s own 60-race wait for a win goes on, while Bell claimed his second victory in a row – having come out on top at Atlanta Motor Speedway a week previously.

After a compelling contest at COTA, two-time Cup Series victor Earnhardt Jr. was among those who had enjoyed the race. For the outspoken icon, the new-look 2.4-mile layout at the legendary circuit made for an even more entertaining spectacle. He said: I didn’t like COTA. I didn’t like the long track. Boring. Cautions take forever.

“Course limits, track limits b——-. I hated the track; didn’t like it. Bunch of piant red, white and blue and s— everywhere. Not into it. When they go up the hill into Turn 1, that was cool. But as soon as they get out of Turn 1, it’s just a big old piece of asphalt with paint all over it. …It just doesn’t look like a racetrack. Didn’t enjoy it.”

The son of the joint-record seven-time Cup Series victor Dale Earnhardt further embraced the new layout, with the previous 3.4-mile racetrack having left him irked. He continued: “New COTA, f—— awesome! I love it. New COTA is great. I can’t say it enough.

“They didn’t do nothing but take a mile out of the racetrack. …They just literally took a mile off this stupid track and made it an awesome track. I’m shocked because I would have never thought that I would like it. …This is why I don’t build racetracks.”

Despite these remarks, the 50-year-old admitted that road courses are not to his taste, added: “I just don’t get into the road course stuff that much. The left and right, and the technical, it just doesn’t turn me on.

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Either way, the NASCAR icon did acknowledge that there is a discernible appetite for races at road courses, especially at COTA. He admitted:”Lots of people love COTA, before adding: “Dude, they took a mile out of this track, something that I didn’t think would a hill of beans. It turned into and incredible race, all weekend, every lap.”

Meanwhile, race victor Bell gave COTA his deal of approval, saying: “These road course races are just so much fun When Kyle [Larson] was leading, I was trying to be cautious. We know what happened last year and I didn’t want to do that again. I wanted to race him clean… Whenever I got out front, I just didn’t want to beat myself. Those were some of the sloppiest laps I’ve run.”