Dale Earnhardt Jr Furious With NASCAR’s Reluctance to Take the Blame After Being Outsmarted by Denny Hamlin

Has NASCAR lost the upper edge over drivers and teams following the weekend at Richmond? After Elton Sawyer, VP of Competition, pointed out that Denny Hamlin indeed jumped the start, veterans and drivers were left with major concerns over the consistency of such penalties in the future. But perhaps the most perplexed is Dale Earnhardt Jr, who believes NASCAR needs to tread carefully.

With arguably the most influential voice in the sport, if Junior has a problem with something, isn’t it in NASCAR’s best interests to treat it seriously? After all, it’s not every day that someone as calm and collected as the JR Motorsports owner has to address something with such intensity.

Dale Earnhardt Jr ramps up his rant against NASCAR officials

Throughout last weekend, NASCAR struck the controversy iceberg once more when fans pointed out Hamlin’s jump start over Truex Jr. So when the #11 JGR driver revealed his focus was on the #19 and the #5 instead of the restart line, many pointed out a flaw in NASCAR’s enforcement of the zone’s permissible area.

With drivers such as Joey Logano already holding NASCAR accountable and demanding consistency, the silence from officials over Hamlin’s jump-start left the balance of power hanging by a thread. On the latest episode of Dale Jr Download, the veteran revealed all of his grievances against the decision-making over the weekend. He stated, “We used to have painted lines on the walls, and exactly where the zone began and ended was debatable. But when they painted the lines on the track, that suggested a defined area.”

For Dale Earnhardt Jr, painted lines on the track itself left no excuses for drivers and teams to make when combined with the rulebook’s wording. This left the veteran with one conclusion: “When you do that, along with the wording of the NASCAR rulebook, you have a clear definition of a good or bad restart, and Sunday was a bad restart.” For Junior, stepping on the throttle before the restart line was a major no-go. But that wasn’t all.

After Elton Sawyer revealed Hamlin’s jump start, the officials also gave reasoning for not penalizing the #11 that didn’t fit well with Junior. The VP felt that the sport would’ve taken a different decision if the incident had occurred earlier in the race and not at the deciding moment. Still, this explanation didn’t answer all of the community’s questions, prompting Dale Earnhardt Jr to express his anger further.

He shared, “Listen, man, going forward, we need clear messaging from NASCAR, and that’s not helpful, right? That’s muddying the waters even more.” For Junior, settling misunderstandings was the priority. He concluded, “They’ve got to come out and say, ‘We didn’t get that one right. He went early. We’ve looked at it; we do believe he went early; we missed the call. The results are staying. But that is a bad restart. That will get you a black flag.’ Whatever they wanna do, they’ve gotta react. They can’t just let it go.”

While it’s safe to say Dale Earnhardt Jr was rather straightforward about his disapproval of NASCAR’s decisions at Richmond, the veteran also pointed towards some solutions that could be implemented to avoid this altogether.

Earnhardt Jr’s solution to NASCAR’s restart zone dilemma lies with technology

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It’s not just motorsport that faces the dilemma of enforcing rules of competition that are decided by a line or mark. So when sports like soccer can develop VAR technology to eliminate the human element in crucial decisions, why can’t NASCAR do something similar? That’s precisely the question Dale Earnhardt Jr asked.

Continuing his rant against NASCAR’s decision not to penalize Hamlin’s jump start, Dale Earnhardt Jr believes the sport needs to make better use of modern technology. The veteran stated, “Look, we’ve got all this technology on pit road that without a human can designate somebody that has an infraction or penalty on pit road. We got all this technology. If we have the sh** for this restart zone, that technology should have been here already.”

Referring to the commitment line on the pit road, Dale Earnhardt Jr felt NASCAR needed to transfer that judgment toward the restarts too. If a driver misses the pit entry line by even an inch, they are usually reprimanded for a dangerous pit entry or exit. Junior believes this should be the case for restart zones in the future.

He concluded by sharing his frustration, “If you clip [the pit commitment line], they’re getting your a**! So if they’re gonna have that line on the racetrack, I see that as a defined area. That is not a suggestion. That is a rule. So just come out and say, ‘The rule is you go inside the zone. Don’t make us come after you.'”

After listening to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s frustrations with NASCAR officials over their restart zone decisions, do you think the sport is heading toward certain friction with drivers and teams in the future?

READ MORE: NASCAR Deems Controversial Richmond Restart Decision ‘Right’ to Claim Denny Hamlin ‘Earned’ the Advantage