During a recent episode of his podcast “The Dale Jr. Download,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke candidly about race manipulation after Joey Logano’s controversial championship win on November 10 in Phoenix. He mentioned that race manipulation is a harsh reality that severely damages NASCAR. The suspicion that the illegal tactic has been used in the sport didn’t start with Logano but with the decision to disqualify Austin Dillion, Ross Chastain, and Bubba Wallace. The trio was implicated in attempting to protect William Byron from Christopher Bell, who was in danger of losing points to Bell during the November 3 playoff semifinals at Martinsville.
This is why Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes something should be done and sees the complexities of race dynamics in the sport as the cause. He used his account at Martinsville Speedway several years ago and how he helped Denny Hamlin increase points toward the end of the race. Therefore, he doesn’t believe that anyone is immune from race manipulation and added that changes are underway for next season to prevent similar incidents from occurring later on down the line.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Proposed Solution
Dale Earnhardt Jr. reiterated his comments from a previous “Dale Jr. Download” episode about a possible solution to how drivers should be held accountable. He mentioned that a one-week suspension was the best route regardless of whether the drivers were doing anything illegal. He also felt like Wallace, Chastain, and Dillon didn’t have a choice in what was done because passing another driver isn’t uncommon during a race, and there’s not much another team owner can say if you pass one of their drivers. Earnhardt understands the decision because they were looking out for William Byron, who only needed a single point to clinch the win.
Are the drivers being directed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMS) to vie for one another? Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes that drivers are not the problem, but OEMS are. However, each driver and their teams, Richard Childress Racing 23XL and Trackhouse Racing, including owners and crew chiefs, were penalized for race manipulation. They were also slapped with a hefty $100,000 fine and lost 50 points each. The Martinsville penalties were imposed for the Phoenix championship race after COO Steve O’Donnell learned of the November 3 incident, a decision Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in favor of.
Why O’Donnell Imposed Penalties
On November 8, NASCAR’s Chief Operating Officer, Steve O’Donnell, spoke to the media ahead of the season finale at Phoenix Raceway to express his disappointment with the behavior of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMS), the drivers involved, and their team owners. He seemed shocked and angry that he was even put in the position to make the announcement, but in terms of the race itself, he felt it was one of the best he’d seen in the playoffs all season.
According to O’Donnell, NASCAR houses rules that the franchise’s sanctioning body could use to address the problem. It started with making phone calls to Original Equipment Manufacturers, which Dale Earnhardt Jr. suspects began to let them know that any future attempts to race to manipulate would not be tolerated. Even so, there’s no foolproof plan to fully pursue the matter other than imposing driver fines and deducting points.
Still, time will tell if the incident will cause stricter ramifications to be put into place in the future. “What I saw at Martinsville pissed me off.“ And it pissed everyone off at NASCAR because we all know better, and we know what happened,” O’Donnell said. “Do we have a rule right now where we can do something?“ “We don’t,” he stated.
Final Thoughts
Dale Earnhardt Jr. held nothing back when speaking about the race manipulation incident at Martinsville Speedway after salt was rubbed in old would with Joey Logano’s controversial cup win at Phoenix on his podcast earlier this month. The now-retired 26-time cup series champ stated that a possible suspension would’ve been the appropriate course of action.
He agreed with NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell’s decision to slap drivers and team owners with fines and points deductions ahead of the season finale in Phoenix. Earnhardt relived some of his experiences on the track, how race dynamics played a significant role, and that the act of race manipulation is nothing new.
