Dale Jr. Hates the New Shootout Format

I wrote the other day about how much I disliked the new format NASCAR is going with for the season-opening Budweiser Shootout in 2009 at Daytona, mainly because of the qualification procedure.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hates the new format for a completely different reason, though:

"I don't know what the extra five laps are for," he said Friday at Auto Club Speedway, site of Sunday's Pepsi 500 Sprint Cup race. "What the heck? They [NASCAR] don't get it. They messed up The Winston, the all-star race, and they're messing up the Shootout.

"They ought to line us up, make us run 10 laps. They want us to run around there for 25 first and have a 25-lap segment? That'd be cool. But 10 laps to go, all or nothing - that's what the fans want, that's what the drivers want.

"The last segment being 50 laps? We're just going to sit there for 30. I just don't get it. They don't get it. I don't understand. I don't know what the focus group is they're talking to to get these formats.

"It's frustrating because I want to like running those races. I don't want to dread them, but right now I'm dreading running them because the formats are no fun."

If Earnhardt Jr. was aiming for a scathing critique of the format, then he was spot on. And can you blame the guy?
Earnhardt Jr. has plenty of credentials when it comes to the Budweiser Shootout and racing overall at Daytona International Speedway with both his family's history and his own personal record at the track. Most recently, Earnhardt Jr. won this year's version of the non-points race.

You've got to believe that NASCAR probably isn't the biggest fan of hearing their most-popular driver rag on their new format, and if anything they might consider changing the way the race is run.

It honestly can't be a good thing to have Dale Earnhardt Jr. claim he gets bored on a race track because of how a race is set up, right?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

FONTANA, CA - AUGUST 29: Dale Earnhardt Jr. drives the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on August 29, 2008 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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FONTANA, CA - AUGUST 29: Dale Earnhardt Jr. driver of the #88 AMP Energy National Guard Chevrolet waits for his qualifying run for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on August 29, 2008 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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FONTANA, CA - AUGUST 29: Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on August 29, 2008 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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FONTANA, CA - AUGUST 29: Sam Hornish Jr. drives the #77 Penske Truck Rental Dodge ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on August 29, 2008 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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FONTANA, CA - AUGUST 29: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (L), driver of the #88 AMP ENERGY/National Guard Chevrolet, speaks with team owner Rick Hendrick (C), as crew chief Tony Eury Jr. (R) smiles, during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on August 29, 2008 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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FONTANA, CA - AUGUST 29: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP ENERGY/National Guard Chevrolet, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on August 29, 2008 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. chats with a crew member during practice for the NASCAR Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Friday, Aug. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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FONTANA, CA - AUGUST 29: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, drivers during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on August 29, 2008 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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