NASCAR: Why not make Dale Earnhardt Jr. the CEO?

The news of Brian France and his legal issues put a black eye on NASCAR this week. Here is why Dale Earnhardt Jr. should be his replacement.

Watkins Glen International and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series are coming off of a huge weekend with Chase Elliott finally finding victory lane in his 99th career race. However, the win has been overshadowed by the news of NASCAR CEO Brian France being arrested on Long Island. France had a blood alcohol content (BAC) twice that of the legal limit and was also in possession of oxycodone.

Beyond the Flag contributor William Richard recently wrote the following in his article “Dear NASCAR, it’s time for a change”, which perfectly fits the mindset of most if not all fans at this point:

"“Over the last 15-plus years, the sport has seen drivers retire, new playoff formats, overly aero dependent race cars, major sponsorship departures and a CEO who hasn’t given a single you know what about the current state of the sport.”"

For Chase Elliott to win at Watkins Glen and not even have the CEO of the sport at the event is embarrassing. To add even more fuel to the fire, Watkins Glen International is on a hot streak of four consecutive sellouts and was just named Best Track in the country by USA Today for the third year in a row.

I would like to think the CEO of a company would want to be there to not only congratulate the track for their impressive success, but also to take some notes on what Watkins Glen is doing in order to help other tracks be successful.

If you want to win, put Dale Jr. in!

I would imagine it’s no secret having Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR is crucial to the sport’s success. Just having him in the NBC Sports Network booth has given it a boost. This begs me to ask the question: why not replace France with Earnhardt Jr.? It seems to me to be a win-win all around for NASCAR and the future success of the sport.