Dale Earnhardt Jr. speaks out on Sammy Smith making amends after the controversy

Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave his take on his co-owned team, JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith's performance at the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black's Tire race last Saturday (April 19). During his podcast, Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt Jr. compared Smith's performance to the Martinsville controversy.

During the US Marine Corps 250 race held at Martinsville Speedway on March 29, 2025, Sammy Smith made contact with Taylor Gray's Chevy, resulting in a controversial finish. Smith's last-minute move sent Gray spinning, costing him his first win in the series. Following the same, NASCAR fined Smith with a 50-point reduction and $25,000.

Recalling the incident, Dale Earnhardt Jr. also acknowledged being upset with his team driver. However, after witnessing Smith's Rockingham performance, Earnhardt Jr.'s perspective changed, and he praised the #8 Chevy driver.

"There was one moment in that race where I was very proud at a job center, talked about it on the show. Sam is under a ton of pressure. All this stemming from home. He put himself in a tough spot for criticism. He weathered the storm. You know what he did? One of the more impressive things is he called other race car drivers, like Mark Martin, and he had conversations with these people about how to be better, how to move forward. Sammy took everything seriously. He didn't brush it off. Did a little bit of homework," he explained [00:00].

"You gotta give the kid a little grace because he's a kid. For him to survive, it takes grace, not taking him out to the city square and stone. He raced every corner, every position, with determination and intention. There was one moment he restarts I believe second he hustled the car on the outside. I saw determination, and I saw commitment," he added. [00:49]

The JR Motorsports driver initially finished the Rockingham Speedway race on Saturday in second place. But later, in a turn of events, the winner, Jesse Love, was disqualified after a post-race inspection, and Smith was awarded first place, marking his first win of the 2025 season.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed Martinsville Speedway "deserves better" after this season's event

Former two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave his verdict on the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black's Tire race held at Martinsville Speedway. NASCAR's prodigy Connor Zilisch led the initial phase before chaos broke out on the track, featuring 14 yellow flags covering 104 laps.

JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith also caused a multi-car pileup on the final lap, changing the results completely. Reflecting upon the same, Dale Jr. shared his views through an X post and wrote:

"This racetrack is historic in the grand scheme of all things NASCAR and deserves better."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. clinched a single win at the 0.526-mile track and 18 top-10 finishes in his nearly two-decade-long career.