"Some aggression is fine"; "Get sheet metal body back": Fans react as Dale Earnhardt Jr. compares two sides of the aggressive racing coin

Several NASCAR fans have reacted to Dale Earnhardt Jr's. explanation of two sides of the aggression coin. This comes as the final stage restarts have increasingly become more fierce with many potential race winners getting wrecked out during the closing moments.

The two playoff races hosted thus far have witnessed a plethora of carnage in the final stage, especially during the closing lap restarts. Martin Truex Jr., who finished 20th at Watkins Glen, was "frustrated" with how he was raced. Tyler Reddick also voiced disappointment after he felt the "driver's code" of racing fairly was missing from the road course race.

The playoff opener at Atlanta also saw impeding racing by the drivers. With nearly half a lap before the checkered flag dropped, Chase Elliott was in pursuit of clinching a promising finish. However, he wrecked into Ross Chastain, which cascaded into a stack-up, destroying several playoff runners' potentially expected outcomes.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed the rise in aggressive driving instances and presented two sides of the same coin. He said (via Dirty Mo Media on X).

"If I'm a driver, I hate it, if I'm an owner, certainly pissed off too. As a series owner or as a fan, I love the aggression, I love the contact, I love there being people in the field that will put your ass in the wall. I like the drama, I want to see if this other guy is gonna come back and get the other guy back, you know, will this create a rivalry? We need all those things but you want it to stop at a certain level (0:22).

After listening to what Dale Earnhardt Jr. said about aggressive racing, the fanbase opined on modern NASCAR racing.

"Need to get sheet metal body’s back, that will help a lot of it," a fan wrote as, compared to older generation NASCAR cars, the NextGen rides are made of a blend of steel, aluminum, carbon, hybrid materials, and alloys, making it more durable to wrecks.

"Some aggression is fine. When it leads to a double (digit) record number of OT races, one being 5 OT (attempts), there's a problem," the fan commented.

"Me personally, as a fan, don't like to see contact or driver's wrecking each other. A clean race means the winner was the fastest and best for that race. The sport has been very lucky that more drivers haven't been seriously injured or killed due to aggressive drivers!" one fan opined.

"Is it really on the drivers though? Until they’re punished, either by their team owner or the sanctioning body, they’re never going to self-police to any extent," a fan commented.

"Do you think single file restarts are needed? And do you think all the Overtimes should be eliminated?" one fan questioned.

Denny Hamlin was running 21st at Atlanta when the final lap collision sent him down to 24th.

"It's a little classless": Dale Earnhardt Jr. is concerned with the rise in aggressive racing

The Go Bowling! at the Glen witnessed multiple instances where the driver was hell-bent on dominating but wrecked out a rival in due process. Among them is the Lap 47 incident, where a three-wide battle between Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Larson transpired. Keselowski was in the middle and was slightly behind the other two. Still, he pushed his #6 Ford in the gap and sent Hamlin's Toyota into the outside wall.

Another instance can be traced to Lap 88, where Kyle Larson blocked Todd Gilliland's move. As a result, the latter's #38 Ford went into Chase Elliott's #9 Chevy and Josh Berry's #4 Ford.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed being "concerned" and "embarrassed" by the unstoppable increase in aggressive driving. He said (via Dirty Mo Media on X).

"I'm a bit concerned how the aggression is just kind of ratcheting up. Some of this is good but too much of this is bad. Too much of this is foolish and unproductive and unprofessional. It's a little embarrassing, when the IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) guys come and run with us, they're like, 'Holy crap, wow.' It's little classless, it's a little embarrassing," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also highlighted that his team, JR Motorsports' Xfinity cars were "destroyed" from the wrecks when he saw them getting washed in the Bay Area.