(By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service)
Posted: Monday,October 31st, 2011
MARTINSVILLE, Va.—In a wild race that featured drivers trading shots—some deserved, some cheap—Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave better than he got in Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Earnhardt was the catalyst for the race’s first caution, when he bounced off the curbing in Turn 1 and sent Kurt Busch spinning. He also was involved in an incident with fewer than three laps left , when he knocked Denny Hamlin into Brad Keselowski and sent Keselowski’s No. 2 Dodge spinning.
Earnhardt also battled with David Ragan, trading numerous blows in a four-lap battle that ended with Earnhardt moving Ragan up the track and passing his adversary.
It was short-track racing in its purest form—and Earnhardt loved it.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser Chevrolet, races Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2011 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR)
“I felt like I was doing more of the beatin’ on people than I was getting beat on myself,” said Earnhardt, who finished seventh. “There was definitely some fun stuff happening out there, and a lot of times you just kind of have to laugh it off. It was fun.
“It was a lot of beatin’ and bangin’ right from the drop of the green flag, but I think the fans really enjoy that. I’m sure it was great fun to watch on TV and in the stands, and it was great fun in the racecar—the most fun I’ve had in a really long time.”
Keselowski might demur. The chain-reaction contact on Lap 498 dropped him out of the top 10 to 17th at the finish and left him fourth in the standings, 27 points behind Chase leader Carl Edwards.
“We got some good racing in the middle section of the race, got the good lanes that we needed, but at the end, we just didn’t catch a break,” Keselowski said. “We ended up on the outside for the last few restarts, and that wasn’t the place to be.
“That’s just this style of racing. You can’t control your own fate.”
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