Dale Earnhardt Jr has launched a blunt public broadside at NASCAR over speculation that the sanctioning body could move its third-tier ARCA Menards Series — now branded as the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series — toward an electric crossover utility vehicle, calling the idea a "massive, massive mistake" and warning it would destroy a series currently on the rise.
Earnhardt Jr, whose JR Motorsports operation runs entries across NASCAR's national series, was responding to comments attributed to NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer John Probst, who told a reporter the manufacturer-friendly CUV body shape was on a long-term roadmap as a possible future direction for the series.
The original Probst quote, published by motorsport reporter Adam Stern, set out the thinking. "Long term, you see it as we do have the CUV body that we developed in our electric vehicle. I'm not sitting here saying today that we're breaking news, it's going to CUV. But there are the things that are on the road map to consider," Probst said. He framed the move as a way to give NASCAR's three national series — truck, CUV and Cup — three distinct identities that match what manufacturers actually sell to American buyers.
For Earnhardt Jr, that pitch did not land. Speaking on his Dale Jr. Download podcast, the 15-time most popular driver said the idea was at odds with everything the lower series stood for and threatened to undo years of momentum at the grassroots end of stock-car racing.
"I think making a switch to anything unlike what we have would be a massive, massive mistake," Earnhardt Jr said. "Any kind of change like that, as dramatic as that would be, would destroy the series."
"I would not be interested in that. I don't think JR Motorsports would be interested in that," he said.
Earnhardt Jr's wider point was that the ARCA-rooted series is not broken. Television viewership, he said, is climbing. Fan engagement is solid. Manufacturers and sponsors are happy. In his view, the answer is not a wholesale platform change but tackling the genuine problem the category does have — an ageing parts supply chain.
"The series is doing really good. There is an issue in terms of parts and pieces. Our parts and pieces that we use aren't being manufactured in," he said. "What I would love for them to do is take that nine-inch forward rear end out of the car that we're running and make me a modern version of that. Take all the front suspension off of our car and make me a more modern version of that. Not an over-engineered hub or rear end like we got in the current Cup car."
That last line is the heart of the disagreement. Earnhardt Jr is wary of any project that imports the complexity of the Next Gen Cup car — and its higher costs — into a series whose biggest selling point is affordability for independent teams and young drivers.
"I don't want any of that that's in the current Cup car. I don't want no influence at all that the current Cup car has," he said. "I think they need to leave well enough alone. Quit fiddling with everything and having to feel like everything needs to be improved, fixed, changed."
The ARCA / O'Reilly Series is one of the key pathways into the Xfinity and Cup divisions, with several recent Cup race winners having served their development time in the category. Earnhardt Jr's intervention is significant precisely because his team is one of the major buyers of those development cars and one of the loudest voices in the paddock when it comes to defending grassroots tradition.
NASCAR has not formally responded to Earnhardt Jr's comments, and Probst was careful to characterise the CUV idea as a long-term consideration rather than an imminent rule change. But the message from JR Motorsports is now public and unambiguous: the road map can have anything it likes on it, but a switch to an electric crossover in the third national series would not have its support.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/dale-earnhardt-jr-nascar-electric-cuv-massive-mistake-oreilly). Visit for full coverage.*