BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Perhaps when the stock market tanked back in the day, ol' E.F. Hutton lost his ability to hold the attention of his targeted audience.

“

The races to me were very poor. We almost depended on the late cautions to save the day, to make somebody race side-by-side for a couple of laps -- at least within 10 laps of the finish of the race and somehow that saved the day.

”

-- DALE EARNHARDT JR.

But in NASCAR, it doesn't matter that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has sunk to 25th in the Cup Series points standings. When Earnhardt speaks, folks still listen.

And Earnhardt was quite candid Friday at Michigan International Speedway when asked what he thinks of the current state of Cup racing. He still isn't happy with the new car and firmly believes that NASCAR's team of engineers can do lots to make it better.

"What I'm getting at is I think we need to open our eyes a little bit, everyone," Earnhardt said. "I think media could address it a little stronger. I think that the drivers could be a little more vocal about it. I think NASCAR could probably be a little more urgent in improving our product -- with the ultimate result [being] great, exciting racing that the fans will enjoy, that the drivers enjoy, and so everyone is happy.

"That should be our quest always, even when things are good. I feel like especially right now, we need to really, really try to turn over every stone. That includes where we are with this [new car] and where we feel like its development is. And where we feel like its future goes and where we feel like this car goes, how it evolves. I just have a sense of urgency over the last couple of weeks, I guess, to see if we can't do better."

Reached Saturday in the garage area at MIS, Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said that he had not yet read or heard Earnhardt's comments. But he defended the state of the current car, and the racing it has produced.

"We've had discussions with the teams and things like that, and we feel like the racing is as good as it's ever been -- better than it's been," Pemberton said. "Everything points toward the fact that the competition is as level as it can be. But I did not see Junior's comments, so I can't really comment on them." (Continued)