Dale Earnhardt Jr. admits mistake caused fiery crash

FORT WORTH, TX - APRIL 07: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard Chevrolet, crashes early in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 7, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - APRIL 07:  Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard Chevrolet, crashes early in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 7, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas.  (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX – APRIL 07: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard Chevrolet, crashes early in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 7, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s hope of winning a second race in 2014 came to an end on lap 13 of Monday’s rescheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.  After starting 19th, Earnhardt was slowly making his way forward when the No. 88 Chevy careened into the turn one wall hard, burst into flames and rolled to a stop with Earnhardt quickly exiting the car.

As his Hendrick Motorsports team assessed the damaged car in the garage, Earnhardt said the problems stemmed from not being able to see too far ahead.

“Just didn’t see the grass. Didn’t know the grass was down there,” Earnhardt said. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. 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.