Last week’s Brickyard 400 finish left many NASCAR fans feeling slighted, especially those tuning into Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, ‘The Dale Jr. Download.’ Despite this sentiment, Junior had a different perspective, which clashed with many fans’ opinions on X (formerly Twitter).
The controversy began during an overtime restart. Brad Keselowski, the race leader, ran out of fuel, allowing Ryan Blaney to take the lead. However, Kyle Larson seized the opportunity, passing Blaney, who missed his chance to choose his row. Blaney’s frustration was clear as he radioed his team, calling Larson a “Golden Boy.” As the race neared its end, Chase Elliott’s contact with Ryan Preece caused Preece to spin out. Intriguingly, NASCAR only brought out the yellow flag after Larson took the white flag, sealing his victory under caution. This marked Larson’s fourth win of the season and 27th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Reflecting on the race, a co-host on Junior’s podcast shared a conspiracy theory:
“I have my own conspiracy theories on it. It’s gonna be hard to convince me that if any other car is leading that race…if Daniel Suarez is leading that race, they throw the caution.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was quick to dismiss this notion.
“Bullshit! Are you kidding me?” he exclaimed.
The co-host persisted, “It all worked out too perfectly. It’s at Indy. Larson’s running the same damn paint scheme as he was before (at the Indy 500).”
“But that didn’t go that well,” Junior countered. “Now if he had won the Indy 500 in that Indy Car then maybe I could have get on this wagon.”
Fans had mixed reactions to Junior’s stance. One disagreed with the Hall of Famer:
“Agreed…..Dale is wrong on this one! We all saw it for what it was.”
Another fan hinted at Junior’s ties with Hendrick Motorsports:
“Jr is Hendrick. He wouldn’t say the golden boy term to Larson lol he’d lose his money from Rick.”
Here are some more reactions:
“@DaleJr your love for Hendrick is blinding your view of this situation.”
“Apparently Dale is blind to NASCAR’s constant preferential treatment of HMS. Isn’t Rick a minority owner of Jr Motorsports?”
“Jr is part of the conspiracy of course he’s gonna say it’s crazy.”
As the debate raged on, NASCAR geared up for its next race at Richmond Raceway on August 11. The 400-lap event will be broadcast live on the USA Network and NBC Sports, with radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. also voiced his disagreement with NASCAR’s VP of Competition, Elton Sawyer. In an interview, Sawyer explained that NASCAR aims to let races play out naturally, ensuring as many green flag laps as possible. He mentioned that officials closely monitored Preece’s car, hoping he could continue.
“We did everything we possibly could. We kept an eye on the 41,” Sawyer told NASCAR’s Alex Weaver. “He was turned around; he was really giving a solid effort. Once he came to a stop, we could tell that he wasn’t gonna move. We’d already taken the white, we just couldn’t run by there again.”
Junior wasn’t convinced by Sawyer’s explanation:
“That, to me, is a great explanation but the only problem with that is I felt like I knew he wasn’t gonna be able to move before they got to Turn 4. And I think a lot of people feel that way,” Junior explained (via On3).
Junior believed that it was evident Preece wouldn’t recover after his spin in turn 2, implying that NASCAR should have thrown the caution flag sooner. Even Ryan Preece anticipated the yellow flag when he hit the wall.
