After Austin Dillon He was stripped of his automatic playoff spot after the race in Richmond last week. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made clear NASCAR made “the line” But he was also concerned about the way drivers drive on short distances.
Dillon and his spotter received unprecedented penalties following last week’s accidents involving Denny Hamlin And Joey Logano. However, Richard Childress Racing said it plans to appeal the decision – and Earnhardt put forward a convincing argument so that they do this.
But as for the time before the accidents, Earnhardt emphasized how clean the race was. That’s something he wants to change on short tracks as well. But not as much as at the end.
“Was there any contact up to that point in the race? None,” Earnhardt said on his show. “I don’t think they were hard enough. But I don’t know how you get there. What happened on the last lap was way too much. But everything else in the 490 laps was way too little, for me, for my taste, for my appetite.”
“When we go to short track racing – and we saw that earlier this year in Bristol when their tires were worn out and they couldn’t go as fast as they wanted. They had to take care of the tires and give the drivers a chance to get to their rear bumper mid-corner. And we saw guys pushing each other out of the way to get the lead. Fifty laps, 150 laps into the race – not even halfway through, and they’re taking advantage of each other a little bit. Just enough. Like, ‘Hey, I want to go through. Get out of the way here for a minute. If you slow down, I want to go faster.’ That’s my appetite for short track racing and this race had none of that until that last moment.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: “Majority” in Richmond lacked toughness
Earnhardt asked a question to Elton Sawyer during media availability about full-contact racing and the possible elimination of that option. The former NASCAR star said he would not have asked that question at this point, but he reiterated that he wants drivers to be a little tougher.
“I think it’s not a terrible question, but it’s probably not what I would ask Elton at this moment because I don’t think the drivers are tough enough on each other while they’re driving,” Earnhardt said. “And man, I’d love to see them be a little tougher.
“But you know, that’s just me. It’s a personal preference. And I think the last round was too much for my appetite. But boy, that was the majority of this event missing.”
