CONCORD, N.C. – The NASCAR Cup Series is in Kansas this weekend for a Saturday night race under the lights. Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared his thoughts about how Kansas Speedway has changed since the repave.
“The new asphalt is not always a lot of fun, really narrow groove, hard to get rubber laid down and if you get outside of that groove it’s real treacherous,” Earnhardt said. “It’s gotten slicker and a little more abrasive and we move up and run against the wall, run in the middle, run the bottom and drivers love to have options.”
Earnhardt hopes to utilize those options when he hits the track in his No. 88 Mountain Dew DEW-S-A Chevrolet SS Saturday evening.
“If the car is not working perfectly in the groove they are in they can move around and then the old racetrack, old surface like that gives you that chance,” he shared. “You can’t go moving around on new asphalt -- you will spin out and wreck.”
Earnhardt has 13 starts at the track with Hendrick Motorsports. He has three top-five finishes and nine top 10s at Kansas in his Cup career.
“I think everybody loves it,” Earnhardt said. “I certainly didn’t hate the old track, as far as the configuration, but I like banking and like running against the wall and we can do that here.”
Watch Earnhardt and his teammates take on the first night race of the season Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.