Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about his issue at Bristol and about still having fun

Dale Earnhardt Jr. pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 17, 2016 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 17, 2016 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 17, 2016 in Bristol, Tennessee.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. came up one spot short Sunday. For the second week in a row NASCAR’s most popular driver came up on position short of the win. For another week, as race winner Carl Edwards celebrated, Earnhardt could only think about what might have been.

What might have been however, almost didn’t happen. Starting in 20th, the Hendrick Motorsports driver couldn’t get going on the very first lap. His Chevy lost power and he was forced to pit. It appeared that the day would end in disaster for Earnhardt. As it turned out, the problem was actually with a safety system.

“We got the Roush system on our cars for the stuck‑throttle issue, and just warming the brakes up

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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.