“Here’s a crazy idea”: Dale Jr. gets honest about “more practice” debate by NASCAR teams and drivers 

Dale Jr. recently shared his thoughts on the ongoing debate over practice sessions in NASCAR. In a social media post, he talked about a driver's choice to take the practice sessions on a track, leaning toward the fact that tracks should be kept open and it should be left up to the drivers if they want to partake in practice sessions.

For the 2025 season, NASCAR revised its practice and qualifying format. Group practice sessions have been extended from 20 to 25 minutes, giving teams more track time. Qualifying will now follow a single-round format at most tracks, except for superspeedways, where the fastest 10 cars will advance to a final round.

Starting positions will be determined solely by qualifying results. Most tracks will use single-lap time trials, while road courses will feature 20-minute group qualifying sessions with multiple cars on track. The 50-year-old NASCAR driver had this to say about NASCAR's practice sessions:

"Here's an idea. Open the track up for practice. If you don't want to practice, you don't practice. If you want to practice, you practice. Crazy idea, I know, but would you believe they used this method for decades with no real complaints."

This came in response to a tweet drawing a comparison between drivers and teams wanting practice sessions, and now calling these sessions unnecessary. The tweet read,

“NASCAR drivers and teams "we want more practice" NASCAR drivers and teams today "practice is unnecessary"

For the Daytona 500, NASCAR has added a 50-minute practice session before qualifying. These adjustments bring the schedule closer to pre-pandemic formats, allowing teams more track time. NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying will air on Prime Video in the first half of the season and on TNT Sports in the second half. Brad Moran, NASCAR Cup Series director, explained the reasoning behind the changes:

"A lot of this came into play back in COVID when we tightened things up, so we’re kind of going back a little to what we used to do again. We’re going to have a little more practice, which is obviously better for the fans and the partners." (via NASCAR)

The season opener, the Daytona 500, is right around the corner, and practice sessions are already underway. On 12th February, Denny Hamlin led the opening session with a lap speed of 187.480 mph in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Other top performers included Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Chandler Smith, and John Hunter Nemechek.

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Dale Jr. celebrates JRM’s Cup Series Debut

Dale Jr. is marking a milestone for his co-owned team, JR Motorsports’ first Cup Series entry at the Daytona 500. Teaming up with Chris Stapleton's Traveller Whiskey, JRM fielded the No. 40 Chevy, driven by Justin Allgaier.

During practice, Earnhardt Jr. watched from the pit wall with his sister, Kelley. The $300 million star has played a key role in overseeing JRM’s first steps into Cup racing.

Allgaier completed three laps in practice and was classified 36th. With 45 drivers competing for 40 spots, he will need a strong qualifying performance to secure his place in the Daytona 500. If he falls short, his last chance will be the Duel races.