NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr. responds to Bubba Wallace

Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded to Bubba Wallace’s idea regarding Formula 1’s first trip to Miami next year and a potential doubleheader with NASCAR.

When 23XI Racing NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace found out that Formula 1 is slated to heat to the streets of Miami, Florida outside Hard Rock Stadium for the first time next year after several years of rumors, speculation, and talks seemingly being shut down, he had an idea.

The date for this brand new event around the 19-turn, 3.36-mile (5.407-kilometer) temporary street circuit outside the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins is still up in the air.

And so is the date for the Cup Series race just a few miles southwest of the track at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

So Wallace wants the two series to work together to make a doubleheader happen.

He wants lights out for the Miami Grand Prix scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET, with the green flag at Homestead-Miami Speedway scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET later that day.

Wallace’s idea to help grow the fanbases of the two very different forms of motorsport seems a bit far-fetched because it is. There are certainly diehard fans who would love to do it, but factoring in traffic and fatigue among other key details included in any given race weekend, it’s not likely something that either series would want to pursue.

On a recent episode of his podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, former Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded to Wallace’s idea and detailed why it probably wouldn’t work, despite the fact that it would make a “splash” among those who choose to embrace it.

"“That’s asking a lot of people because Homestead is a bit farther. It’s like an hour drive. When I go to a race or sporting event of any kind, when it’s over with, I’m done. I’m tired. I’m ready to go home. Especially like a race weekend as an experience. People come a day or two ahead of time. They’re camping. And they’re doing whatever. I don’t know that you want to split that up.“I agree it’s a very robust idea. You want to make as big a splash as you can make. But I doubt that F1 would want to share their event with anything else happening in the region, especially that first one. And NASCAR is not going to want to play second fiddle or be the closing act. It’d be tough to do. I don’t see how it would ever happen.”"

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It is indeed about an hour drive, which makes it doable. With a four or five-hour window between the end of the Formula 1 race and the start of the Cup Series race, there should be enough time to get from one to the next.

But that’s just it; “should be enough”. You have to factor in traffic.

Even if traffic is light, there will still undoubtedly be delays with that many fans traveling from one race to the next, and who wants to sit in traffic for several hours while already exhausted after a full-fledged sporting event, only to get further exhausted with another one — and all of that without much time, perhaps even none, to truly breathe in between?

That’s a hard pass for most fans — even some diehards.

Plus, like Earnhardt also mentioned, people don’t generally just show up to a race weekend for the race itself. They show up for the event and the whole experience. While they could still do so for the Formula 1 race, that would be all but out of the question for the NASCAR race under this proposal — even if fans were to get there in time for the green flag.

Again, there are some fans who would love this opportunity. But that opportunity likely won’t ever be one that is an option for all the reasons Earnhardt explained, as Formula 1 and NASCAR probably won’t base their plans around what amounts to be somewhat of a pipe dream structure.