Dale Earnhardt Jr. has called on two of Formula 1’s biggest names to try their hand in NASCAR. The NASCAR Hall of Famer said he wants to see Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo make the move to stock cars.
Four-time F1 champion and the sport’s youngest race winner, Verstappen has set multiple records for wins and podiums with Red Bull, while Ricciardo, who stepped away in 2024, has won eight Grands Prix across 14 seasons. During a recent interview with Hard Rock Bet, Earnhardt Jr. said he wants to see the two F1 drivers test NASCAR.
“I would love to see Max Verstappen give it a try. He’s incredible, and I think his curiosity, his work ethic, I think all of that would play a great role in allowing him to be successful. I was hoping that Daniel Ricciardo would come to NASCAR after his decision to leave Formula 1, and that may still happen. Daniel’s still relatively young,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.
“I used to watch F1 very heavily back when Michael Schumacher was battling with Mika Häkkinen and those guys, I mean, those were incredible years. I had always wished for the opportunity to hear what Michael Schumacher thought about driving a stock car,” he added.
The JR Motorsports team owner also shared that modern Cup cars reward drivers with road course skill and technical discipline, and that success for open-wheel drivers is more realistic now than it was 20 years ago.
“He Made That As Hard as Possible” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sees Same Mentality in Max Verstappen That His Father Had
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s favorite example of great racing remains the 1987 All-Star Race that his father won. Dale Earnhardt Sr. didn’t have the best car, but won after he refused to give up. According to the former NASCAR Cup driver, Max Verstappen’s defensive drive at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix was also one of the most impressive race craft he had seen in years.
Dale Jr. said that the move showed the same stubborn fight he admired in his father’s racing style. He said many drivers accept second or third place once they realize they lack speed, but Verstappen fought relentlessly.
“I saw a flash of that, actually, a reminder of that from Max Verstappen at Miami last year. I went to the F1 race for the first time. The McLarens were faster, much faster, but he had the track position in the middle of the race, and he knew that eventually they were probably going to get by him, but how he made that as hard as possible was really admirable,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said during the same interview.
The 51-year-old will return to the NASCAR Cup Series as an owner again. Justin Allgaier will return, for the second time, in the No. 40 Chevrolet at the Daytona 500 this week.
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