Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to NASCAR legend Mark Martin's take on NASCAR newcomer’s potential
Dale Earnhardt Jr. agreed with NASCAR legend Mark Martin's praise of a rising talent in NASCAR, Lanie Buice. Their exchange came after Buice's impressive debut at the ARCA 125 held at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025.
Buice entered the ARCA Menards Series with Rev Racing, driving their No.2 Chevrolet. The debutant qualified an impressive fifth and stayed competitive throughout Saturday's race.
However, during the scheduled break on lap 63, Buice received a tail-of-the-field penalty for working on the car longer than the allotted time of five minutes. Consequently, she restarted the race at 12th, and two laps later, Buice tagged the left rear of Tyler Reif through turn 1, sending him bouncing off the outside wall.
This resulted in Reif retiring from the race with 50 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Buice regained her momentum to record a top-ten finish. During a post-race interview, Buice reflected upon the incident and admitted to her fault.
Reacting to the admission, Martin took to social media and shared his thoughts on her debut.
"Admitting when you make mistakes is brave and rare now days. I will have an eye on @laniebuice going forward to see her progress," he wrote via X/markmartin
Dale Earnhardt Jr. doubled down on Martin's comments with a reply underneath.
"She's fast and a tough racer Mark," he wrote.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. previously welcomed Buice for her participation in the CARS Tour Championship, a Late Model Stock Cars Racing Series he co-owns. She made her debut in the 2025 season with the previous year's championship winners, Lee Pulliam Performance.
"Bubba's having a better year": Dale Earnhardt Jr. praises Bubba Wallace Jr.'s growth
Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently highlighted Bubba Wallace's underrated performance in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series. He praised the 23XL star for matching and even outpacing his teammate Tyler Reddick.
During an episode of his podcast, Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt Jr. shed a light on Wallace's evolution through the 2025 season.
"The statistics don't do justice. The eye test says that Bubba's having a better year. In my mind, before this year, Bubba had those you know, handful of tracks where you're like, 'Okay, he could have a good run here.' He does have some history of running good at Kansas, Talladega, Daytona..." (53:10 onwards)
"Now he's doing it almost every week, now he's competitive and matching, if not beating his teammate (Tyler) Reddick at times. It was more consistently Reddick outrunning him week after week," Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.
Wallace currently ranks eighth in the driver's standings with 251 points and three top-ten finishes. Tyler Reddick ranks one spot above with 274 points. Up next, Wallace heads to Talladega Superspeedway, a track where he scored his first Cup Series win in 2021.