CONCORD, N.C. -- Superspeedway qualifying is branching out from just Talladega and Daytona this season.
And that's just fine with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"I enjoy that superspeedway format, to settle who is the fastest guy," he smiled. "The other format's pretty fun, too, don't really have a problem with it. I kind of like both of them -- it's not really ruining the experience for me as a driver."
The format is expanding to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway. The change comes a week after NASCAR announced that a new, high-drag package that will be introduced at both tracks.
NASCAR relayed that the superspeedway qualifying format aligns well with that format.
"I think that's a great idea. I appreciate them. I think they're airing on the side of safety with that," Earnhardt explained. "If we do get pack racing or real tight racing due to that spoiler and you do have huge runs on guys down the front straightaway at Indy, that's such a narrow area for everyone, not only the fans but everybody on pit road down through there, it's just really tight. You don't want to get anything going on down there like we had with Austin (Dillon) at Daytona.
"To sort of make a preemptive move, I really applaud NASCAR for that. I feel a whole lot safer, a lot better about it. We'll go through it, see what the racing looks like, watch the race and say, 'Eh, I think we can do the format of qualifying that we've used throughout the season and it will be fine.' But we need to go learn that and not step into something we don't know how. I think it's a great move to air on the side of safety."