Dale Earnhardt Jr Enjoyed William Byron’s Uncanny Misery as He Drops His Verdict on Fans Disappointment

As Dale Jr noted, “He really controlled the race… he never had to get really in traffic.” William Byron was untouchable early on, dominating with that clean air advantage. You could see it in his in-car camera—smooth, steady, a king on his throne. Even when he tangled with Christopher Bell early, trying to lap him, Byron had to grind a bit but still made it look easy. Then came the twist: Reddick, lurking in the shadows, pitted before the No. 20 car, cycled to the front, and suddenly Byron’s kingdom was under siege.

For most of the race, it felt like witnessing a masterclass, a “perfect game” as Jordan Bianchi put it on Dale Jr’s podcast. But then, in a heartbeat, it all flipped. Clean air vanished, traffic bogged him down, and Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney pounced like wolves on a wounded deer.

Fans were left shaking their heads, calling it a snooze-fest, but Dale Earnhardt Jr? He was grinning ear-to-ear, soaking in every second of Byron’s unraveling misery.

And there was Dale Jr, sitting in the studio, eyes glued to the screen, loving every twist. “I was completely locked on it,” he said on his podcast, admitting his deep dive might’ve skewed his view. “The caution in the middle of his cycle, how that flipped the field… when William Byron is taken out of the lead and put behind something, all of those things is what made this race entertaining to me.” Jordan Bianchi wasn’t sold, countering, “I thought it was going to be lower… so little passing.”

But Dale saw poetry in the strategy, the chaos, the sheer unpredictability. “I vote in the good race poll,” he added, surprised it scored as low as it did. For him, it wasn’t about constant overtakes, it was about the story unfolding, the rise and fall of heroes. The fans, though? They weren’t buying the hype. Jeff Gluck’s “Was It a Good Race?” poll on jeffgluck.com landed at a lukewarm 45.9% approval—hardly a glowing review. Social media erupted with frustration. Meanwhile, Reddick and Blaney were playing a different game. Reddick’s stealthy pit strategy flipped the script, and Blaney, the long-run wizard, came alive late.

Dale Jr loved it: “How those guys worked their way back through the pack, how were they able to get by particular cars… that’s what made this race entertaining to me.” Blaney’s charge to the front wasn’t just skill—it was the kind of grit that makes you cheer even if your guy’s losing. And it wasn’t just Blaney. Hamlin pitted from the lead with 45 laps to go, tumbling down the order. He climbed his way up, eventually making it to the top 5. But for Byron, it was a rude awakening. “The car we had is no longer the car we have now,” Dale Jr mused, capturing that sinking feeling when the tide turns.

“Clean air,” Dale Jr, said, pinpointing the game-changer. Once Byron got stuck behind backmarkers, his car lost its magic. “He couldn’t blow by them,” Dale observed. “He had to work on it a little bit.” That struggle? It stung. “It stings,” Byron confessed after the race, “You don’t get those opportunities very often to lead that many laps and have a shot to win.” Jeff Gordon, his Hendrick Motorsports VP, felt the blow too, telling, “These things are hard. It’s a tough one to swallow when you’re that dominant and don’t close it out.”

For Dale Jr, though, that slip was the spark. He wasn’t rooting against Byron—he was rooting for the race itself, the unpredictable beast that keeps us coming back. So picking through the wreckage of Darlington, fans walked away bummed, calling it a letdown, but Dale Jr saw a thriller worth savoring. Did Darlington break your heart, or did it light a fire that keeps you hooked on this wild sport?

Dale Jr mocks Austin Hill coming to Xfinity driver’s rescue

After that messy Martinsville race on March 30, NASCAR had enough. The Xfinity Series turned into a demolition derby—14 cautions, cars smashing left and right, and Austin Hill somehow snagging the win amid the chaos. Sammy Smith and Taylor Gray were at each other’s throats, with Smith slamming Gray’s No. 54 Toyota, triggering a pileup that wrecked the race’s flow. It was ugly, and everyone knew it.

So, NASCAR called a mandatory drivers’ meeting before Darlington. They laid it out plain: keep it respectful, or pay the price. No exceptions. Big names spoke up, including Hill, who’s no stranger to wrecks himself. But when he offered to mentor younger drivers, one could hear the internet explode. The guy who’s been in the thick of crashes mentoring rookies? Come on.

The X page ‘Nascarcasm’ didn’t miss a beat, posting a Jurassic Park T-Rex chasing a jeep with the caption, “In my mind this is what it’s like when Austin Hill’s behind you #XfinitySeries.” Brutal. And Dale Jr. ate it up. Reposting it on X, he said, “To hear he spoke up in the Xfinity all drivers meeting to suggest he could be one to mentor the kids was the best laugh I had all week.” Imagine Dale cackling at that one.

The disbelief in his words with Hill’s nerve hit him right in the funny bone. After Martinsville’s madness and Hill’s history, the mentorship line felt like a punchline. Fans and big names piled on. It’s like the kid who keeps crashing his bike offering to teach you how to ride. What’s Hill gonna say next?