Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Fiery Incident Forces NASCAR to Add a New Rule; Fans Can’t Contain Their Happiness

Dale Earnhardt Jr is among the biggest names in the world of NASCAR. Besides being a 15-time Most Popular Driver, the 49-year-old has numerous achievements to his credit, including being one of the 75 greatest NASCAR drivers of all time. As an appreciation of his numerous contributions to the sport, NASCAR inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 2022. So, it goes without saying that if Dale Jr is involved in a mishap on the track, NASCAR is bound to look into the matter.

A few weeks back, Junior returned to the Xfinity Series behind the wheels of the #88 Chevrolet at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite displaying race-winning speed and going bumper-to-bumper with the front pack, Junior’s day ended early as a fire almost burned his feet and left him with a hole in his white firesuit. More recently, Ricky Stenhouse Jr faced a similar issue at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, when his car caught fire. This begs the question, why do NASCAR’s cars keep catching fire?

Dale Earnhardt Jr and Ricky Stenhouse Jr face the same fate

Dale Earnhardt Jr was running so well at the Bristol Motor Speedway that the other drivers on the grid, including his own driver Justin Allgaier, felt the pressure. However, he had to watch the finish, with Allgaier taking the checkered flag, from the track’s infield care center after escaping a possible disaster.

Moments after the race was over, the JR Motorsports owner spoke to NBC’s pit reporter Kim Coon recalling the moments before he realized that there was a fire. Junior exclaimed, “That last lap, I saw a big fireball down there in the tunnel in the car and I felt it obviously. My uniform was burning up and I was like I can’t keep going, I’ve got to stop.”

“Usually when you stop, the fires get bigger, so I pulled over by the pit stall and some of them guys were pretty alert and they helped me out and I hate it,” he added.

Fast forward a few weeks, The Bank Of America Roval was on its 96th lap when the camera spotted a fire under the right front hood of Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s #47 Chevy. A few moments later, Stenhouse Jr was seen climbing out of his ride, unscathed. Alarmed at the pattern, NASCAR has taken a new step to ensure that incidents like these don’t happen again. Needless to say, Junior is happy, and so are the fans.

Racing community cheers NASCAR’s new rule, though many others feel that NASCAR has too many rules

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Veteran FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass revealed the real reason behind Stenhouse Jr’s fire. It seems like the team had sent him out to drive the car without attaching the tailpipe to his car. He tweeted, “NASCAR added a rule about tailpipe assembly under damaged vehicle policy. It is result of Stenhouse fire a couple weeks ago. When team made fixes, they accidentally sent him out without tip of tailpipe, which caused the fire (and were having him come back in to fix).”

Watch this story: Dale Earnhardt Jr Recounts the Expense of Greatness

Fans joined in to express their opinions on the same. Skewcar commented, “To prevent burnt pizza rolls, make sure the oven has a full tailpipe”

Another NASCAR fan wrote, “Always happy when these rule changes are in the name of safety. Keep being better @NASCAR and thank you.”
On that note, another said, “Great technical update thanks for sharing.”
Meanwhile, someone joked: “Bob, they should just make it against the rules for the cars to catch on fire.”
Another user felt like NASCAR has too many rules. Moreover, they also admitted that NASCAR keeps changing their rules often, which is frustrating. They wrote, “NASCAR should have a final edition of their rule book, w/o anymore rules added, and that be it. Sooooo many new rules, amendments to the current rules, it’s NOT even funny. Ugh.”

Perhaps NASCAR should introduce mini fire extinguishers in the cars to battle such unforeseen unforeseen circumstances. What do you think about NASCAR’s new rule? Do you think this is a step in the right direction?

Read more: Dale Earnhardt Jr Reveals How NASCAR Robbed Him of a Championship in 2014