DALE EARNHARDT JR. BACKS BUBBA WALLACE'S SPOTTER ON NASCAR'S CONTRADICTORY STANCE ON THE BUSCH-STENHOUSE INCIDENT

Dale Earnhardt Jr defended Freddie Kraft, Bubba Wallace's spotter, on social media in a post regarding the Busch-Stenhouse Jr incident at North Wilkesboro last week. Earnhardt Jr indicated that the penalty was a bit too harsh by NASCAR.

NASCAR fined Ricky Stenhouse Jr $75,000 for "violating the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct" when he punched Kyle Busch after the All-Star Race last week. This happened after the latter pushed Stenhouse Jr during the second lap of the race and he crashed out. Busch seemingly did that because the #47 driver had pushed him to the wall on the initial lap, however, that did not cause any damage.

Many personalities criticized the fine that was imposed on Stenhouse Jr as they felt that he was 'expressing his emotions' at the time. Dale Earnhardt Jr also felt that the penalty/fine would have been less, as he wrote under Freddie Kraft's X post:

"Good point. I just thought it might be a 25k fine max."

A heated conversation between the two drivers turned into a fight after Stenhouse Jr landed a punch on Busch's face and the two began to brawl. NASCAR not only fined the driver but also issued four-race and eight-race suspensions for two crew members of JTG Daugherty Racing.

Dale Earnhardt Jr reflects on the Busch-Stenhouse Jr crash at North Wilkesboro

Earnhardt Jr, speaking on Dirty Air mentioned that Stenhouse Jr's early dive on Busch was necessary in the race. He explained that because it is a short race on a 0.6-mile track, there are not enough overtaking opportunities. This is also supported by the fact that the race winner Joey Logano led 199 of 200 laps of the race.

Analyzing the situation, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stated that because of the fewer overtaking opportunities, Stenhouse Jr (starting the race down in 16th) had to push every time during the restarts. He said:

"And Stenhouse is right. Short race, not a lot of opportunity to – passes are difficult. He saw that and felt that in practice. He probably knew, gotta get everything you can on restarts."

He further stated that the #47 driver did not "deserve" to be hit in the back and be out of the race on the second lap. Dale Earnhardt Jr also explained that he would have gone home if he had the chance to leave the track, which he did not because of the absence of a tunnel at North Wilkesboro.

"Could Kyle have done some things? Maybe not hit the wall? I think so. Did Ricky Stenhouse physically run him in the fence? No. Did he deserve to get wrecked? Did Stenhouse deserve to get crashed? No. Does Stenhouse go home if he can leave the track? Yes."

After crashing out, Stenhouse parked his car near Kyle Busch's pit and waited for him for the remaining race.

2024-05-22T20:27:29Z dg43tfdfdgfd