Fort Worth, Tex. — Simmer down, Earnhardt Nation.
The way Dale Earnhardt Jr. sees it, those who bashed Jimmie Johnson for supposed selfish driving last Sunday at Martinsville were simply trying to stir up trouble.
Johnson slowed down and but didn’t stop as Earnhardt was trying to gather his car from a spin off Turn 4 late in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the .526-mile short track. Johnson passed Earnhardt, his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, and put the No. 88 Chevrolet a lap down.
Earnhardt said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway that he understood Johnson’s decision and would have done the same thing under similar circumstances.
“Jimmie couldn’t slow down,” Earnhardt explained. “If you slow down, the guy behind you has the right to take the position. I lost a position to (Denny) Hamlin under caution at Phoenix, so I know all about that too well.
“Jimmie, leading the race, couldn’t take the chance… he did actually try to slow down, and I think that he saw I had two left-side flat tires, and it was pretty pointless for him to wait. If he stopped at all, the guys behind him would have been able to pass him… I would have done the same thing. If I’m leading the race, I’ve got to think about my car, my team, what I’m trying to do.”
Earnhardt’s day had already gone south, the result of an improperly installed track bar mount. The track bar worked its way loose and dropped, tightening up the handling characteristics of the car and making it all but undrivable.
Earnhardt finished 24th, two laps down and dropped from first to third in the Cup standings, 12 points behind Johnson, the series leader.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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