Dale Earnhardt Jr. has revealed he would love to see four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen race in NASCAR, as well as one of his former Red Bull teammates, Daniel Ricciardo.
Switches between NASCAR and F1 are far from common, but we have seen drivers make the move from open-wheel to stock car racing before, even if only for a handful of appearances.
2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button raced in three Cup Series road course races back in 2023 following the end of his F1 career, for example, competing at COTA, Chicago, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen has also raced in NASCAR, competing in the Truck and O’Reilly Series [then Busch Series] for Kyle Busch Motorsports at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2011, before appearing in the Cup Series over a decade later at Watkins Glen and COTA with Trackhouse Racing.
Colombian star Juan Pablo Montoya even raced full-time in both, completing 94 races and taking seven wins in F1 before later racking up 256 events in the Cup Series.
Earnhardt Jr. wants to see Verstappen in NASCAR
Verstappen’s love of racing goes far beyond F1, as evidenced by the fact that he recently chose to spend his off weekend between the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix racing in a GT3 car at the Nurburgring in Germany, rather than put his feet up and rest.
Now, speaking on the Speed with Harvick and Buxton show, Earnhardt Jr. has backed the Dutch star to come over to the States and try out a stock car.
“Max [Verstappen],” Earnhardt Jr. said emphatically when asked if there was anyone he’d like to see come over to NASCAR. “The thing I like about Max as a sim racer, and I feel like somehow or another, all sim racers feel like they’re part of the same community.
“The closest I got [to racing him] was we had a charity race on iRacing last year and he donated, which was kind of cool, but you know, he’s like us. He’s one of us when it comes down to it, you know? He just loves to race.”
Earnhardt Jr continued: “These cars [next-gen in NASCAR], they’ve gotten closer to what those guys deal with, with the rear independent suspension and so forth, and the low-profile tire and so forth.
“I don’t think it’s such a huge leap for somebody to come from F1 or IndyCar even and be able to acclimate really well.
“But he’s a name that I think would be fun because he’s very young still and he’s opinionated – he’ll tell you what he thinks.”
Daniel Ricciardo to NASCAR?
Verstappen’s former Red Bull F1 teammate Daniel Ricciardo was another name that Earnhardt Jr. dropped in the interview. The Australian star is no longer racing in F1, and loves NASCAR, with Earnhardt Jr. even revealing he’d do everything he could to get him in one of his JRM cars if he committed to it.
“And Daniel Ricciardo, now that he’s not running,” Earnhardt Jr. stated, following up his Verstappen verdict. “He’s still young.”
“Well, you’ve got a car!” Harvick responded. “If we could get Ricciardo to commit, you’d figure out how to put him in a car.”
“Yes, of course!” Earnhardt Jr. stated. “I mean, anyone would, what a great personality.
“And he loves NASCAR, he’s a big Earnhardt fan, and so I would love to give him an opportunity just to get a feel.”
READ MORE: NASCAR star has ‘no intention’ of staying in O’Reilly Series, targets 2027 Cup ride
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