BRISTOL, Tenn. — Whether it’s NASCAR’s new rules for Chase qualifying or simply the nature of short-track racing at Bristol Motor Speedway, 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. won’t be surprised to see push come to shove once the checkered flag is in sight on Sunday.
He says other drivers shouldn’t be surprised either if the final laps of the Food City 500 turn a bit wild.
“You don’t want to go throw trash in your neighbor’s yard just for the hell of it, but if you give me a good reason, I might do it,” said Earnhardt, speaking metaphorically on Friday about the need to take out a rival at Bristol.
“The mentality has changed over the years and the new system changes that mindset slightly, too. Winning is important. So, if you need to move somebody to win, the guy that gets moved has to see it coming and understand that in the same situation, he may have done the same thing.”
With winning a race early in the season all but assuring drivers a place in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Earnhardt thinks last August’s IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol might have played out differently under current rules. In that race, Kasey Kahne elected not to bump Matt Kenseth out of his way.
“I think Kasey would have been much more aggressive in that situation had we been using the current format for the points system,” Earnhardt said. “When it comes down to it, if you’ve got a guy running second, within reach of the leader, and he needs a win, he’s probably going to do a little bit more than he probably would have done last year.”
Earnhardt, with a victory and two second-place finishes to start his season, says it’s one thing to nudge a competitor at comparatively low short-track speeds, quite another to end a competitor’s afternoon when massive damage is likely.
“It’s just wrong to fence a guy and end his race,” Earnhardt said. “I don’t think the drivers ever intentionally do that. I’ve tried to move guys and accidentally spun them out. I mean, it happens. You know (when) you can move a guy out of the way, get the position and make the pass without ruining his day.”
Kyle Busch also believes the intensity will ramp up when drivers, still seeking their first victories, are pursuing race leaders. Busch, a five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup winner at Bristol, is a fit for that category this week.
“I think you’re going to see some things happening,” Busch said. “It’s part of what this sport is. It’s what the rules grant. Everybody is playing by the same (rules) but some might play a little harder than others.”
Intentional or not, Earnhardt realizes that a little fender banging isn’t such a bad thing from a fan’s perspective.
“Not that we all want to go out there and see each other running each other into the fence,” he said. “But, hopefully, that definitely is what we see at places like Bristol when we’re presented with those opportunities. Fans get more excitement and get more bang for their buck.”
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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