Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently weighed in on the penalties handed to Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski during the Brickyard 400. Both drivers were penalized for blend line violations as they exited pit road during the race. Chase Elliott, driving the #9 Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, received a penalty in stage 1 after drifting out of the designated white lines. Brad Keselowski faced a similar penalty later in the race.
Earnhardt Jr., a NASCAR Hall of Famer, expressed his opinion that these penalties were unnecessary and could have been handled with a warning instead. He felt that such infractions had not been strictly enforced in the past and that the sudden penalties were unfair. On his podcast, he said, “I’ve seen so many cars go where they went. This is something that I have a little bit of a problem with. It’s never really been something that was heavily officiated before, to pop a couple of drivers in the middle of the race when others we know are probably doing the same thing, it just felt loosey-goosey. It’s not a great look. The #6 and the #9 should have gotten a warning and said specifically, the last white line is the one we do not want you to cross so stop, next one will be a penalty.”
Chase Elliott was visibly upset about the penalty, expressing his frustration over the radio with a series of expletives. His teammate, Kyle Larson, who won the Brickyard 400, also discussed the issue. Larson revealed that their team had been unclear about the blend line rule. He stated, “I don’t think NASCAR initially knew what the rule was because then we started kind of getting communication with them.”
Larson explained that during the Indy 500 in May, drivers were allowed to straddle the first white line but were not permitted to cross it with their left tires. This experience influenced his actions during the Brickyard 400. Following Chase Elliott, Larson noticed Elliott’s car “swung way out,” making him question if Elliott would be penalized. Observing Elliott’s mistake helped Larson avoid the same fate and ultimately win the race while Elliott was penalized.
