Daniel Ricciardo backed by racing icon to pursue NASCAR career

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has voiced his desire to see Daniel Ricciardo compete in NASCAR.

The 26-time Cup Series race winner hoped the Australian would take to the American championship following his retirement from F1 mid-way through the 2024 season, when he was dropped in favour of Liam Lawson after the Singapore Grand Prix.

However, the 36-year-old has since announced his retirement from motorsport and is currently an ambassador for Ford Racing.

Ricciardo grew up a fan of Earnhardt Jr.'s father, who won seven Winston Cup Series championships before his fatal crash at Daytona in 2001.

The eight-time grand prix winner raced with the number three in F1 in honour of the legendary NASCAR driver, and was able to drive Earnhardt's Wrangler Chevrolet stock car from 1984 at the Circuit of the Americas in 2021.

"I was hoping that Daniel Ricciardo would come to NASCAR after his decision to leave Formula 1, and that may still happen," Earnhardt Jr. recently told Hard Rock Bet. "Daniel's still relatively young."

As for those currently racing in F1 that the 51-year-old would like to see compete in NASCAR, he was quick to pinpoint Ricciardo's former Red Bull team-mate and the latest owner of the number three car.

"I would love to see Max Verstappen give it a try," he said of the four-time F1 driver champion.

"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."

Earnhardt Jr. explained how the evolution of NASCAR machines would better suit F1 drivers today than they would have previously.

"Plus, our cars have changed a lot," he said. "Our cars have independent rear suspension, the transaxle diffuser…

"Our cars aren't the stock cars from 10, 20 years ago, and so I think the opportunity for an F1 guy to have success is much better today than it was 20 years ago."