NASCAR attracted a lot of criticism its way after making that call on Denny Hamlin’s restart that ultimately led him to the victory lane. Everyone was in agreement that Hamlin went off early and criticized NASCAR’s lack of action. However, the governing body later made things worse for themselves which has now got Dale Earnhardt Jr. pretty angry.
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On SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Elton Sawyer claimed that had Hamlin done the same during a restart on a different lap or much earlier in the race, they’d have taken a different call. “If this happens at Lap 10 or 50 or 300, the call could have been different,” Sawyer said.
He claimed that given the nature of the sport, they can’t afford to have a timeout and review things. Sawyer also made it clear to the drivers that if he’s a competitor, he won’t be “playing that game every week.”
“Sometimes you get the call that goes in your favor,” he added.
But these comments from NASCAR not only made them look worse than before, but they also frustrated names like Dale Jr., who took the mic on his podcast to voice his frustration.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants NASCAR to make certain things clear
Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt made his stance very clear on Sawyer’s comments and what NASCAR should be doing regarding certain rules in the sport. “Going forward, we need clear messaging from NASCAR, and that’s not helpful. So just come out and say, ‘The rule is you go inside the zone. Don’t make us come after you,'” the Hall of Famer said.
“To come out and say, I think if it happened on lap 10, we’d have called it differently. That makes me even more angry. Why are you calling differently depending on the laps? The rule in the book is black and white. It’s on or off. It’s yes or no. It doesn’t change at lap 4 or 50 or lap 5.”
Going forward, it’ll be interesting to see if Earnhardt’s frustrations along with many prominent industry insiders’ reach the governing body so they rethink their plan of action in a situation like they had on hand in Richmond.
Because if they continue to let drivers get away with such clear infringements of rules, then not only will it set a bad example for others in a sporting sense, but it’ll also lead to increased tension within the sport itself.
