Can't think of another current driver who could do that. A lot of the old champions have some weight.

NASCAR fans may have to look at Junior vs Nascar. They may excoriate him but it will be interesting to see. He has been their favorite driver for years.There are too many bots around to completely access anything on Twitter.

Most drivers not so much

The fans have loved loved Earnardt for years. Even if he wasn't retiring, I think he would have done this.
He has a lot of power in NASCAR TO LOSE.

is bound to lose some fans. He doesn't care because right is right. It is unusual to grow up in the environment that he did and still not be prejudiced. It is a testament to the type of man that he is for him to speak out.

Unlike some high brows here I have always enjoyed watching NASCAR. It doesn't make me a stupid red neck. I find it amazing that some here profess to not being prejudice and yet are so quick to write off all NASCAR fans as ignorant racists. Are there many who follow NASCAR that fit that description, sure, but not all by a long shot.

Prejudice is about generalizing a group of people and attributing negative stereotypes to them to feel a sense of superiority. People in glass houses and all of that!

"He could have waited until AFTER he 'retired' to express this view or not said anything at all". And as was mentioned by one of Madison's staff - Earnhardt is also a co-owner of a team and he surely isn't "retiring" from that!

Good point

He is not aligned with those yahoo's. He has tried to be a sane voice in a crazy sport's demographic.
He will not dump racing. Don't expect that and This was a strong tweet.
This tweet was a huge statement for him to make.

It is an open challenge to NASCAR and to some of its older champions.

Many people do not realize what huge statements others are making. They pooh-pooh them for not turning into flaming revolutionaries. I was surprised by how strong some of the statements have been.

thank you for setting me straight.

"Fireball Roberts" (Died in a crash)
Always keep up with them. The personalities and history are interesting to me. The races, not so much. I always watch the last few laps especially at Dayton.

The new drivers are all so clean-cut and corporate. Fans need more to relateoo.

After fireball died I lost interest in Nascar for years.
Not racing but Nascar

Richard Petty is playing to the traditional old school fan base, R. Childress is hard right bluster. Neither are leaders of the sport these days.

Unfortunately

and I have to go get grits, which I cook a lot and this is awesome.

Name of my new church?

No one realizes (outside of the south) the glory of grits...............

My favorite movie of all time!

The first time I had them was in SC for breakfast the day after I got married. Love them.

Grits are grand.☺

but totally worth it

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/10/shrimp-and-grits-recipe.html

shrimp, bacon, gruyere cheese, oh my

I may need to rethink the bacon. I will try. Thanks!

There are a lot of recipes.
Some are upscale and some, not so much. I have enjoyed several.
In fact, make up your own.

I actually prefer the finer cut "Quick Grits" (NOT the instant grits) mostly because I'm too impatient to wait 20 minutes babysitting coarse milled grits on the stove. That, and I'm a damn Yankee born and raised... but still doing my darnedest to hold down the warm-breakfast-porridge-of-choice battle lines up here. Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat suck ass compared to grits. Can't really put shrimp or bacon or hotsauce in oatmeal or cream of wheat... what kind of bullshit is that.

My Go to:
grits with butter, salt, pepper and a dash of hot sauce.
grits with butter, salt, pepper, a touch of shredded cheese and a couple runny sunny-side-up eggs laid on top.
Shrimp and Grits: sautéed buttered shrimp, cream, shredded cheese, tomatoes, peppers, green onions, seasonings.

Damn... now I want grits.

I usually try to get Albers quick grits and I put cheese and fried eggs in mine. What I have left over the next day I put an egg in to keep it from falling apart and fry myself a grit omelet.

Not, cheesy grits as Romnet said. He got laughed at.

I also love stewed tomatoes and grits, catfish stew and grits,....

I always knew you had that comment in you somewhere!

Childress and Petty represent NASCAR past. Neither Of them would have made it in today's media savvy racing world. Neither of them has fielded a competitive racing team in years. Junior has always marched to a different beat. Kudos to him.

has a lot of sway with the fans.
Most are still involved with NASCAR.

NASCAR has tried to diversify but It Is hard to change The attitude of the die hard fan. The drivers are at the mercy of the owners and so they must act accordingly. As Junior is retiring I think he has decided to speak out.

If dump loses NASCAR fans he is really going down.

One of the most liberal people I know is also a diehard NASCAR fan.

He is my favorite now. He has guts for sure. When I went to Nascar races there were so many confederate flags in the camping areas. It was a scary and disgusting. I known Nascar has a lot of racist fans.

to 'eliminate' Earnhardt on the track the way the corporations tried to eliminate Jonathan E.

with his late father's view. But, I doubt NASCAR will change much. It's fans will just call Earnhardt Jr a snowflake or something similar, and call him an Obama Lover. Screw em at the next Tractor Pull.

Good on him.

genuinely surprised, did not expect to hear it from Jr.

Spread your influence! Sorry you are retiring after this year but I'm sure that you will still be involved behind the scenes.

The nuts are just so virulent that no one wants to take them on.

Same reason I am nervous to put up a "Trump for Prison" sign. I don't want my dog shot.

Nice

but I wouldn't mind tipping a few back with Dale Jr. Good on 'im...

Wonder if he ever considered politics.

We hate to see you retire Jr.



I haven't watched a race in 4 or 5 years but always follow to see where Jr. placed (well sometimes) after this year I won't have to even put that much effort in.

and quotes JFK. I've gained a whole new respect for Junior.

I watched NASCAR for many years. This year I've watched one race. The idiot France grandson pretty much ruined the sport (Car of Tomorrow, The Playoffs, Stage 1 stage 2...). The popularity of NASCAR has taken a noticeable nose dive the past few years. When Junior retires, which is less than two months away, they will probably be giving away tickets in boxes of Cherrios.