“Martinsville will be a distant memory”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. points to bigger picture with William Byron’s controversial Final 4 spot

Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels that the events at Martinsville will only remain a "distant memory" if William Byron manages to win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship this year. He earlier locked himself up in the Championship 4, however, controversy followed his P6 finish.

As the race progressed and reigning champion Ryan Blaney put himself in winning contention, Byron needed a P6 at worst to make it into the final four. As he held onto that position, two other Chevrolets of Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain backed him up, blocking any other car to get ahead of the #24 Chevy.

While Byron did manage to make it to the final four, this maneuver of other Chevys likely supporting him was criticized. But Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels that this incident wouldn't carry much weight in the future if Byron wins the title.

"If you win the championship, you're not going to be worried about what you did to get there. I think that Martinsville will be a distant memory," Dale Earnhardt Jr claimed.

"But again, I mean, for them, for an individual, for a driver, for a team, they're going to look at the full body of work and say, we worked our guts out. It wasn't just what happened on that moment. We spent the whole year putting ourselves into this position. So if I were William Byron and I win the championship, I wouldn't have a damn problem with it at all. I'd stand up there and give my speech and be prouder in hell."

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Dale Earnhardt Jr highlights the need for NASCAR regulations to maintain the "legitimacy" of the sport

Although the 50-year-old did not seem to have much of an issue with the two drivers forming a wall behind William Byron in Martinsville, he mentioned the need for NASCAR regulations to focus on issues like these.

According to Dale Earnhardt Jr, the rules would need to be modified to keep the "credibility" and "legitimacy" of the sport in the long run.

"But, you know, again, like the long term health of the sport, we definitely need NASCAR to, you know, deter what some of the other drivers chose to do that night for the long term credibility and legitimacy of the sport."

He further talked about Trackhouse Racing, mentioning that the team would be "pissed" after the inquiry against them at Martinsville.

"Pissed. I mean, it's been a difficult year for both of those organizations, more so for RCR. And that's why, you know, they obviously feel like they've got an argument to win the appeal and they've got a reason enough to believe that they didn't do anything wrong."

Trackhouse Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and 23XI Racing were penalized by NASCAR for manipulating the results of the race at Martinsville, which also had a direct impact on the Championship. While Trackhouse and RCR have submitted appeals against the action, 23XI refrained from doing so.