At Talladega, high-speed chaos reigns. The close-quarter racing can frequently lead to fender-banging and heightened tempers. Ryan Blaney fell prey to that situation when Alex Bowman nudged him from the back and spun him out on lap 120. Expletives rang out from the No. 12 car, and Blaney did not stop even in his interview – much like Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The retired veteran racer is a 6-time Talladega winner – so negative emotions did not necessarily rile up Dale Jr. In fact, it was at a glorious moment that the podcast host let slip profanity on live television. And taking the same path as his mentor may not be good for Blaney, as a NASCAR insider stresses.

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s wild side has a taker

Winning 24 NASCAR Cup Series races and leading a successful Xfinity Series team – Dale Earnhardt Jr is a popular icon in the sport. However, he also has a chaotic side that spilled over a few times when he was young. Back in 2004, Dale Jr was in contention to win the championship, winning a Talladega race and moving into the points lead. But soon after climbing out of his race car, he awarded an interviewer with a bout of profanity and landed a $10,000 fine and 25-point penalty.

Ryan Blaney, who used to live on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s property for three years, might have been influenced by Jr. The Talladega wreck on Sunday left the Team Penske driver cussing Bowman in rage. In a recent Dale Jr Download episode, Kenny Wallace observed that Blaney’s words were too public. “He says the word f-k and it’s heard over the loudspeaker. So when you do an interview after a wreck at Talladega, those loudspeakers work really good. So when you’re doing an interview, those 100,000 fans and the people sometimes through the network broadcast, they pick up on that background. In the middle of the race, that was the story. Ryan Blaney said f-k.”

Wallace drew a parallel between Blaney and his former landlord, recalling Dale Earnhardt Jr‘s checkered burst of emotions at Talladega Superspeedway. “The interviewer says, oh my gosh, you have tied your father the great Dale Sr. And Dale Jr says, ‘I ain’t sh-tting my diddy.’ And that was it. They fined him $25,000, I believe, and 25 points…Mike Davis and myself talked about this – that cost Dale Jr maybe the championship.” So Ryan Blaney may need to check himself before NASCAR slaps a similar penalty on the defending Cup Series champion. Even Dale Jr said he needs “a trashcan” to filter his words.

Despite people criticizing Blaney’s colorful language, Dale Earnhardt Jr drew support even from his rivals.

Recognized for his actions and not words

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Well, at the end of the day, Dale Earnhardt Jr was on a hot streak. His October 3rd, 2004 Talladega win marked his 5th win on the 2.66-mile drafting track. He led 78 laps and had to hold off a host of stars such as Kevin Harvick, Dale Jarrett, and Tony Stewart. In the end, Kevin Harvick held the lead with three laps to go. But Junior made a big run from fourth to the lead with some drafting help from Ricky Rudd. So his first-class racing enthralled even his competitors. They rallied to support him as NASCAR’s penalty for profanity dropped him from 5,518 points to 5,543 with seven races to go.

Even Kurt Busch, who captured the lead on Junior’s downfall, said it was unfair. “It’s unfortunate. The emotions in victory lane overcame him. Hopefully, these 25 points won’t come into the final factor because we want to beat him on the racetrack.” Even Jimmie Johnson sided with Dale Earnhardt Jr on this one. “I feel that they don’t want to affect the championship based on this, and I wouldn’t want to see the championship affected by something somebody said outside of the racecar. I mean, this still needs to be settled on the racetrack.”

Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s popularity propelled him to capture his rivals’ support. Ryan Blaney’s situation may be different, although NASCAR is kinder to him.