It is safe to say that the NASCAR lawsuit revealed a lot of ugly truths. The recent revelations about SRX are turning heads. Leaked messages show NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell and other top brass expressing frustration as fans began noticing how closely SRX mirrored NASCAR.

In one particularly striking exchange, O’Donnell reportedly wrote, “This is NASCAR. Pure and simple. Enough. We need legal to take a shot at this.” And that was enough to make NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s jaw drop. The side venture, which was supposed to be fun, suddenly sparked alarm at the highest levels, leaving Junior shaking his head in disbelief.

Dale Jr. takes aim at NASCAR for picking on SRX

The 51-year-old NASCAR Hall of Famer didn’t hold back. Talking on his Dale Jr. Download, Junior was baffled by NASCAR feeling threatened by another series.

“I am surprised by some of the comments I read from O’Donnell and a couple people, ‘Man we gotta put an end to this or we gotta go take a look at this,'” Junior said. “Why are we worried? I’m not alarmed by that. I never saw, no disrespect, but I never would’ve worried or considered SRX a problem.”

During the ongoing legal proceedings, the two teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler questioned O’Donnell about the nature of his concerns regarding SRX.

According to Kelly Crandall, O’Donnell testified, “I was concerned with what was happening on the racetrack.”

Kessler pressed further about O’Donnell’s suggestion to have the NASCAR legal team review the series.

Exhibits presented in the case included a screenshot shared by Phelps of a fan comment on SRX ‘s social media page, noting that the series was beginning to resemble NASCAR in the same way LIV Golf mirrored the PGA Tour.

And that was enough for Steve Phelps also to respond with a “need to put a knife in this trash series” message.

But what really left Junior scratching his head was that SRX posed no real threat to NASCAR, hence these comments weren’t needed.

While O’Donnell emphasized the similarities between the two series, Junior personally saw SRX as a separate, entertaining venture that offered fans a unique experience without encroaching on NASCAR’s core operations.

“To hear that they were even remotely the least bit threatened is so surprising to me because they’re this giant that’s NASCAR, and SRX is just this little thing,” Junior added. “They were like 12 cars just barely getting by financially. They’re tearing up so much sh-t; they had no idea they were gonna tear up so much sh-t.”

But with the antitrust lawsuit trial ending with a settlement, all seems to have simmered down; however, Dale Jr cannot help but take a dig at NASCAR for other reasons.

Dale Jr. sets the record straight on North Wilkesboro drama

Though the case has come to an end, Junior has opened up about the drama, revealing how he was dragged into leaked text messages criticizing him despite having no involvement in the charter lawsuit.

Even with his prominence in the sport, the 51-year-old faced criticism in chat from NASCAR officials, including Steve O’Donnell, Steve Phelps, and Ben Kennedy.

Speaking candidly, he admitted he didn’t know all the inner workings of NASCAR or why certain decisions had such strong reactions, including the North Wilkesboro race.

The NASCAR Hall of Famer made it clear the return of North Wilkesboro as a points-paying race was due to Marcus Smith and not NASCAR leadership.

“I don’t know everything about how they run things, and I certainly didn’t know how they felt about some things, and how these text messages have unveiled some things. North Wilkesboro came back because of Marcus Smith. NASCAR, you know, they didn’t play any role,” he said.

With the North Wilkesboro race now avoiding points after nearly 30 years and changes to the Window World 450 increasing it to 450 laps, the sport has seen significant developments.

Though the lawsuit exposed unsettling truths, NASCAR retains an upper hand post-settlement and will now look to recover from its 2025 losses and aim for a stronger future.