JUNIOR WANTS NO PAYBACK
Focus is on winning, Earnhardt says, not on retaliating against Edwards
If you thought Dale Earnhardt Jr. was considering any sort of payback on Carl Edwards for a racing incident Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, you thought wrong.
Earnhardt used his forum on the Dale Jr. Download, a weekly podcast on the driver’s Dirty Mo Radio network, to explain to fans why he won’t be retaliating against Edwards.
“A lot of people want me to go wreck Carl,” he said. “I’m not going to do that, because if I’m trying to wreck Carl I’m not winning Kansas, I’m not winning Talladega. You can’t go chase after a guy and put him out of the race and accomplish what your goals are. Our goals are to go to those races and win; that’s what we’re going to do.”
Two laps before the incident, Earnhardt had thrown a big block on Edwards while racing for position. Earnhardt said he didn’t want to give up a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and was racing hard at that point in the race.
But when he tried it again two laps later, Edwards held his ground. The cars made contact, and Earnhardt hit the wall. But Earnhardt said it was both drivers’ responsibility.
“We’re not going to worry about Carl or start some ( bull) show between me and him,” he said. “It’s over and done.”
Plus, the driver said, that wasn’t what ruined his day. Earnhardt still had a top-10 car after the Edwards incident and had a chance for a comeback. But when he later slid through oil — undetected by NASCAR — in the high groove of the track, he hit the wall harder than at any other point in the race.
Earnhardt theorized NASCAR missed the oil on the track because Justin Allgaier’s No. 51 broke a hose in the front end, spraying fluid all over the place instead of only dropping a trail of it from beneath the car. NASCAR cleaned the lane where Allgaier was running but not above it.
So when Earnhardt went into the corner to try to avoid the speedy-dry material placed in Allgaier’s lane, he was in for a surprise. “I got into the corner and hit oil — it was like ice — and the car flew into the wall,” Earnhardt said.
But Earnhardt put a positive spin on the unfortunate turn of events, telling his fans his situation would allow him and his team to be more aggressive, in everything from the setup to how he raced. Particularly when it comes to Talladega Superspeedway, he said, the “nothing to lose” attitude could pay off in a big way.
“These other guys are going to just try to take care of themselves, try to survive,” he said. “A few of us will be out there for blood, trying to claw our way back in. I like being able to race like that. I hate being nervous and worried.”
He closed by giving a pep talk to his legion of fans. “You can sit there and put it in a negative light and think about how crappy the position you’re in (is), but you’re not going to advance with that attitude. You’ve got to go in there thinking about the positives and how you’re in a good place.
“Shake it off, man. One minute spent worrying about what just happened and being negative is one minute wasted. Let’s get after it.”