“It’s Shaming…” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Sounds Off on NASCAR’s ‘Under the Rug’ Act, With a Brutal Reminder of Dale Sr

The Ally 400 race went down on an ultra-chaotic note. After a scorching hot Xfinity race on Saturday, the soaring humidity levels peaked at the Cup race. Rain delayed the race, soaking up the racetrack. That made for a slew of bizarre cautions and wrecks. However, one of them did not happen due to the rain.

Carson Hocevar has unknowingly slipped into the officials’ bad books. And, he is renowned in NASCAR circles for his wrecking antics. While he has already been fined a hefty amount for his on-track mischief, it looks like Dale Earnhardt Jr is still not satisfied and has called for a stricter attitude while referring to his own late father’s racetrack brutality.

Dale Earnhardt Jr chides NASCAR for being lenient

On lap 242 at the Nashville Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon were battling for the 16th position. Then Dillon went rogue, getting into the back of the No. 6 and spinning it hard into the wall. A caution flag waved, but it was hardly the end of the chaotic drama. Carson Hocevar suddenly hooked into Harrison Burton’s right rear on the backstretch.

The move was shocking for NASCAR’s executives. But they took time to evaluate the scenario, as Bob Pockrass explained, “It looked like Harrison Burton checked up at one point in the exchange, so they wanted to look at data.” They handed out a hefty cash penalty and points cut to the Spire Motorsports rookie a few hours ago. Yet Dale Earnhardt Jr said they were too slow in the call.

On a recent episode of ‘The Dale Jr Download’, Dale Earnhardt Jr argued, “If NASCAR wants to penalize someone who does this, I would prefer they do it at the moment ’cause that’s when it stings. For them to penalize someone mid-week, not in the throes of competition, it doesn’t have the same sting, it doesn’t send the same message.”

If NASCAR had reprimanded Carson Hocevar then and there, the ripples would have been deeper. Dale Earnhardt Jr continued, “If he’s penalized right then and there in front of hundreds of thousands, millions on TV, all over social media…then Hocevar…it’s shaming and impactful. But when it happens under the rug on a Wednesday, ‘Ugh, what are we doing?’”

Dale Earnhardt Sr, aka the Intimidator, was known for his brutality on the track. Hence, Dale Earnhardt Jr took his own father’s example at a Charlotte race to cement his argument, “Dad goes down into turns 3 and 4 and spins Geoff out, wrecks Geoff. They put Dad on pit road in the penalty box for like five laps. The race was over for Dad. Now he didn’t get parked for the day, but he had enough of the penalty that really, really stung. I think that would be the only way you were gonna get through to Dale Earnhardt. You weren’t gonna penalize him on a Wednesday or a Tuesday and really get him to change his ways.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr stuck to his labeling Carson Hocevar as a primary ‘s**t stirrer’ of NASCAR. Quite reasonably so, as the No. 77 driver has a notorious history of wrecking. NASCAR was not so lenient with him in the past.

The last time NASCAR followed Dale Jr’s demand

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Carson Hocevar entered the Cup Series as a rookie this year. Before, he was known as a rowdy Craftsman Truck Series driver. In 2022, he spun a rival on the front stretch at Indy Raceway Park. Hocevar followed it up with two more intentional spins that season, one at Talladega and another at Las Vegas. But when the No. 77 chaotic racer resorted to his wrecking antics yet again in 2023, NASCAR took a call.

In the Martinsville Truck Race last year, Hocevar made a similar attempt when he wrecked the No. 17 car of Taylor Gray and right-hooked into him. Although there was some room for doubt due to a flat left rear spring, NASCAR came down on Hocevar, parking him for two laps.

Denny Hamlin mentioned this past chaotic history recently while calling for a harsh penalty for Hocevar. “They don’t need to suspend him or anything like that, but they need to dig into his pocket a little bit because I think you have to — anytime you have someone that goes before a judge, they always take into account your past history. And we’ve seen this happen when he was in the Truck Series, I think he right rear-hooked someone under caution at Martinsville.”

Evidently, Carson Hocevar’s antics are getting on the nerves of veterans like Dale Earnhardt Jr and Hamlin. Unless he corrects his rowdy nature soon, the penalties will keep coming.