Had he put it together Sunday, the story for Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have been the biggest of the NASCAR season. Instead, Earnhardt Jr. came up inches short of victory at Talladega Superspeedway and was eliminated from the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. Despite the disappointment however, NASCAR’s most popular driver was able to smile and show a great deal of class.
Earnhardt came into the CampingWorld.com needing to win to advance to the next round of NASCAR’s Chase. For much of the 188 laps Earnhardt had the car to beat. Has they have in the past though, issues for Earnhardt came on pit road. Pitting under green, he twice smoked the tires on his Chevy forcing a tire change when the crew wanted to pit for fuel only.
Then on lap 122, Earnhardt was penalized when a crewmember came over the wall too soon MORE>>>
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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