Dale Earnhardt Jr Astonishingly Goes Back on His Word Over Ross Chastain Fiasco After Kevin Harvick’s Stern Claim

Ross Chastain has been the burning topic on everyone’s mind lately. Recently, he was involved in incidents with Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Larson, as he earned the ire of Kyle Busch. Many in the NASCAR community have been split between defending him or criticizing him. In light of this, Dale Earnhardt Jr gave his opinion on the Trackhouse Racing driver. However, it seems that Kevin Harvick has given him a new perspective on the matter.

On his ‘Dale Jr. Download’ podcast, Junior mentioned, “Harvick said that he doesn’t want to see drivers fighting. He even went as far as to say, that happens in the CARS Tour, which is a series we co-own together, he would advocate for a penalty for the driver who throws the punch.”

“That got me thinking, I had a driver in the CARS Tour, reach out to me, and said, ‘What do you think about this?’. I was like, ‘Yeah, I kind of feel like Harvick feels. You throw a punch, you ought to be penalized’.”

“Then I thought, ‘Wait a damn minute, what was I doing last week?’. I wasn’t trying to penalize Ross Chastain.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr respects Kevin Harvick and his opinion

Having partnered with him for the CARS Tour, Dale Jr has gotten to know the Stewart-Haas Racing veteran. That was why he backtracked on his stance upon hearing Harvick’s opinion on the matter. The 2014 Cup Series champion actually managed to give Dale Earnhardt Jr a new perspective that he should have thought about.

Dale Jr continued, “I’m perplexed by my own reaction to it. I like what Kevin says, I like Kevin’s opinion about things in most cases. Like the fact that Kevin feels pretty strong about his opinions and he’s pretty assertive about it. Has confidence in what he’s saying. But I’ll be honest, that tripped me up, because a week ago, I was thinking. I said so much on this show, I don’t like conflict, don’t like physical conflict, fighting. But I didn’t feel like there was a penalty necessary.”

READ MORE: “This Guy Loved to Fight!”—NASCAR Insider Calls Out “Hypocritical” Kevin Harvick for His No-Fighting Comments

How did the ex-NASCAR star justify his reason for changing his opinion?

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The former Hendrick Motorsports star admitted that he was not a fan of violence. So it was surprising that he initially felt that Chastain did not deserve to be punished. Now that he had thought about it, he did admit that at the end of the day, the brawl was not a good look for NASCAR.

Dale Jr concluded, “In that moment, I never ever thought to myself, ‘Boy! I think Ross will be lucky that he doesn’t get penalized here’. Or ‘Ross ought to be penalized’.”

“I never said any of that, because I didn’t feel that in the moment. Listening to Harvick, if I was in the booth at control tower in the CARS Tour race, and there was a fight. Pit crew, driver, whatever. If I was in control in the moment, there would be some penalties, some punishment. As I was having this conversation with the CARS Tour driver, I said, ‘As a broadcaster and a podcaster, I like it. More drama, fighting sells tickets.”

“But as a CARS Tour and series owner, I do not like it. I don’t want it, because it makes us look silly.'”

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