Dale Earnhardt Jr Dissects the JRM Implosion in Miami That Gifted Josh Berry an Early Birthday Present

In a terrible turn of events, JR Motorsports‘ co-owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr ruined his driver’s day in Homestead, Miami amidst the ongoing confusion at the mile-and-a-half track. JRM’s implosion sent shockwaves across the community as #88 fans watched in dismay as the veteran wrecked out his own driver, Josh Berry.

Entering the Contender Boats 250 was Junior for his 2nd race this season. After a fiery encounter in Bristol, the veteran had high hopes of securing a decent performance. And he got one as intended, but that came at a cost. The cost of his #11 ranked driver’s day. Reflecting on his misfortune, Dale Jr cleared the air, revealing the inside story of what actually happened on Saturday that got Berry an unexpected early birthday present.

Dale Earnhardt Jr explains the unfortunate Miami implosion frame-by-frame

Wrecking one’s own driver, rendering him/her out of contention, is something no owner wants. It gets even more depressing when one of the sport’s most popular drivers does it. Unfortunately, NASCAR’s most popular driver and arguably one of the best drivers, Dale Jr had to live through it all when he knocked the #8 JRM Chevy of Josh Berry out of the race.

The 49-year-old in his latest Dale Jr Download podcast revealed what actually went down on Saturday, explaining the driver-spotter confusion that led to the unfortunate incident. As per Junior, the whole debacle was based on a simple lingo confusion between his spotter.  Speaking to his long-time friend, Mike Davis, the veteran detailed what went down scene by scene.

Trying to hold his position, the 49-year-old decided to make a final stand in an effort not to lose more ground. While his spotter was calling the shots from the stands, the not-so-familiar lingo painted a different picture inside Dale’s head, prompting him to take the race close to the wall that eventually put Berry into the wall, ending his day early on a sour note.

Talking about the incident in his podcast, Dale Jr said, “Joey [Meier] is spotting for me and he’s got a different lingo, I’ve been listening to TJ (Majors) for how many years, right? Joey’s lingo is different, it’s not wrong, no one way is better, but it’s just different.

“So he’s (Josh Berry) hauling 3 wide middle 8 cars outside, I’m not sure exactly the absolute verbiage that he used but as he’s talking in my mind what I’m thinking is happening is the #8 car is coming through the middle and so you know Joey did not say that but what I heard was, what I’m computing in my mind is that the #8 car was in the middle and I got loose and that further ingrained in my brain that somebody was in my left rear quarter panel, right?” 

With the driver thinking that the #8 car was well off of his limits, unaware that Berry was to his right, Junior further detailed what led to the contact that ruined the #8 driver’s day. “Josh is on my outside, I don’t know it, right? And so when I got loose I’m like, well I got plenty of room to the wall, I do not have to lift, I’m gonna go just straighten this thing up, jump up a lane and go and as soon as I corrected to the right I drove into Josh hard, hard, really hard, knocked the left rear tire off of his car, ruined his day.” But what was the birthday gift among all this that Berry asked for? 

While Berry’s day was ruined by his boss, he did not let this get to his head and asked Dale Jr for Saturday’s (a day before his birthday 22nd) souvenir.

WATCH THIS STORY: A tearful journey down memory lane: Kelly Earnhardt’s emotional revisit to North Wilkesboro Speedway 

The tragic crash between Josh Berry and his team boss

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With just 29 laps for the checkered flag, disaster struck the JRM camp, swaying the #8 car off its path as the #88 Chevy of Junior put Berry into the wall. While the 49-year-old veteran completed his 2nd race of the season, showing that he still has the magic left in him, it came at a cost.

Junior finished 5th while Berry, who suffered major damages, was deemed out of contention after being put into the wall. The brief contact that adverse effects on the #8 Chevy, causing tire damages and possible steering issues that kept the car rolling, scrapping the wall after it made contact.

Following the race, Dale Jr took the fall, blaming himself, saying, “I didn’t know he was out there, my spotter was saying all the right things, but what I was hearing was something different.”

READ MORE: Carson Hocevar Takes a Page From Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Book With Massive Venture Announcement

What do you think about the incident? Should part-time drivers like Dale Jr be allowed to race under such critical conditions, considering it was a critical playoff race?