What can stop Dale Earnhardt Jr from racing? Is it a fiery accident? No. Is it age? Not at all. Maybe it’s safe to say that this 49-year-old Hall of Famer is so in love with racing that even after having retired from the arena of NASCAR as a driver, he keeps coming back to the racetrack to indulge in this thrilling sport that we all live and breathe. However, what Dale decides to take up doesn’t come without its fair share of challenges.

After the career the two-time Xfinity Series champion has had, nobody would perhaps expect him to make mistakes on the track. However, during his recent appearance at the Homestead–Miami Speedway race, Dale Earnhardt Jr might have invited his own doom to his doorstep. Luckily, the number 88 team rebounded from it. But Junior didn’t shy away from accepting his fault.

Dale Earnhardt Jr could have finished 15th or even worse, all because of his stubbornness

Dale Earnhardt Jr qualified 23rd for Saturday’s race at the 1.5-mile oval in Florida. Nevertheless, he scurried along to 15th within the first two laps of the race and felt quite happy about the speed. But his happiness didn’t last long.

It’s not wise to start an Xfinity Series race on fresh tires. It’s always advisable to start the race on scuffed tires and, after gaining momentum and spots on those, put on fresh tires during the stage breaks and then capitalize on the new tires. But how does that matter? Some might wonder.

Scuffed tires are tires drivers have used for just a couple of laps. These tires have a better grip on them and come in handy when the driver needs instant grip, during a late restart. But Dale Earnhardt Jr argued that he should keep driving on scuffed tires even after stage 1. “You just can’t trust what the scuff tires are going to do,” Dale told his long-time friend and co-host of his podcast, Mike Davis. “They got it in the notes, we talked about it. We’re not gonna make that adjustment, we’re just gonna put new tires on it for stage 2.”

But somehow, Dale Earnhardt Jr. felt like he would run better on scuffed tires. Although his crew stressed that it wasn’t a good choice, Dale Junior nagged them constantly, and they gave in. Junior said, “I complained and complained and they tightened it .”

“So when we started stage 2, I was too tight. I made this adjustment that I shouldn’t have made. Finally, at the end of stage 2, we come down pit road. They’re like, hey we know what we need to do, we’re going to undo what you asked for. So we fire off stage 3 and I think I drove up in 9th or 8th and I’m like, alright! This is more like it,” he added sheepishly.

Isn’t it funny how even the most experienced drivers make fatal mistakes? On that note, you’d be surprised to know that this was not the only mistake that Earnhardt made last weekend.

Watch This Story: NASCAR Imposes Heavy Penalties on Josh Berry and Six Other Drivers in Xfinity Series

What transpired was not the ideal way Dale should have sent his driver off

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Dale Earnhardt Jr had admitted that he wouldn’t do anything outrageous that could possibly stand in the way of any driver on the grid of making it into the Championship 4. After all, Junior wasn’t racing to win his 3rd Xfinity Championship. But he is extremely ambitious by nature. And that nature in him pushed him to finish 5th in the 200-lap-long race. However, at what cost?

During the 171st lap of the race, Junior got loose and nudged his own JR Motorsports driver, Josh Berry, into the wall because of a miscommunication between Dale and his spotter. And that forced the #8 Chevy Star to settle for a P32 finish in a 38-car field.

Coming out of his machine, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, “The Josh Berry deal man, I didn’t know he was out there. My spotter was saying all the right things, but what I was hearing was something different. So I put that on me.”

“Sorry about that, not the way I wanted to send Josh off, I want to send him off with a win,” he added with regret.

Did Dale Junior get over-ambitious? Or was it an honest mistake? Do let us know what you think!

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