Earnhardt Jr. comes to his wife’s defense
INDIANAPOLIS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his own statement Saturday.
He defended his wife’s Twitter post — and blamed himself for putting her in a position where she felt she had to speak out.
Five days after Amy Earnhardt wrote it wouldn’t be “worth the risk” to see her husband compete in next year’s Clash at Daytona, the 42-year-old driver explained outsiders don’t understand what the family endured as he recovered from concussion-related symptoms last year.
“She’s been there for everything,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “A lot of folks that may have a different opinion about it weren’t there through the whole process. If anyone knows how difficult it was beside me, it would be her. It wasn’t a lot of fun for her.”
Earnhardt spoke about six hours before making his final Brickyard 400 qualifying run at Indianapolis.
The series’ most popular driver announced in April he would retire after this season, in part because of his injury history. Two big crashes last summer forced him out of the final 18 races, and he missed two races during the 2012 playoffs also because of concussionrelated symptoms.
But Earnhardt appeared to reopen the possibility of returning to Daytona after winning the pole there three weeks ago, his first since September 2013. To be eligible, drivers must win at least one pole during the previous season, be a previous Clash winner or be a former Daytona 500 pole-winner who still competes full-time on the Cup series.
On a recent podcast, Earnhardt said he told team owner Rick Hendrick that competing in the Clash would be something his wife “needed to warm up to.”
She hasn’t so far.
“I’ve received many comments on Dale Jr running the 2018 Clash based on whether or not I give my blessing,” she wrote Tuesday night. “Considering his struggles last fall with his injury, we are very blessed that he is now healthy, happy and able to enjoy his final season…and hopefully many years beyond racing. So my answer is simple. It’s not worth the risk to his health.”
While some Earnhardt fans were upset with the response, Junior said his wife felt she needed to take her opinion to the public.
He also suggested his immediate reaction following the pole-winning run left his wife in a tough spot.
“It sounds like a great idea right off the bat, but maybe it’s not worth it,” Earnhardt said, explaining the Clash has a higher crash rate than other NASCAR races.
Even if he doesn’t compete in the 2018 season-opening race, Earnhardt intends to compete in two Xfinity Series races next season and plans to be involved in the sport in other ways.
But first, Earnhardt wants to give his family another way to celebrate his farewell tour — joining Al Unser and Al Unser Jr. as the only father-son tandems to ever win at Indy.
BUSCH TAKES POLE AGAIN: Two-time defending Brickyard 400 champion Kyle Busch is in the best possible position for an unprecedented three-peat at Indianapolis.
Busch became the first Cup driver in nearly two decades to win back-to-back Indy poles by saving his fastest lap for the final one Saturday. His speed of 187.301 mph was almost a mph faster than second-place Kevin Harvick and was the second-fastest pole-winning speed in the race’s 24-year history.
Harvick’s No. 4 Ford was second at 186.332 and Jamie McMurray, in the No. 1 Chevrolet, wound up third at 186.274. Nobody else topped 185.
XFINITY: William Byron’s first trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended with an unforgettable finish.
After taking the lead with 15 laps left, the teenage rookie used some savvy moves and a little luck Saturday to hold off the hardcharging Paul Menard for his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win in less than a month. The margin of 0.108 seconds was the narrowest in race history, and he did it by successfully blocking the 2011 Brickyard 400 winner for the final two laps while dealing with a troublesome tire for the final 20.