Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earns Mandatory Pit Stop

21 Apr

“No, no, he didn’t slam you, he didn’t bump you, he didn’t nudge you… he *rubbed* you. And rubbin, son, is racin’” – Robert Duval in Days of Thunder

Bringing this blockbuster movie line to the raceway has cost Dale Earnhardt Jr. a six race suspension from NASCAR officials. Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears engaged in some good old fashioned ‘rubibn’ on the Phoenix International Raceway recently.

During Saturday night’s race things got a little heated between Earnhardt Jr and Mears with 11 laps left to go in the race. At the time Earnhardt Jr. was on his way to a top 10 finish with 63 laps in the lead. After the crash between the two, Earnhardt Jr. watched that coveted finish drop down to a 31st place finish. The cool down lap began and Earnhardt fired up. He intentionally spun Mears around and sped off. Mears retaliated by speeding up to Earnhardt and bumped into the back of his car.

This intentional display of behavior by the two did not go unnoticed by NASCAR officials. The two have been handed a 6 race suspension in lieu of receiving points on their records. It is the hopes of all involved on both sides of this grudge match that the boys settle down and things resolve themselves during the suspension which begin this weekend with Talladega and end May 31st.

Earnhardt Jr. and Mears were previous teammates for Hendrick Motorsports. Mears has moved on to represent Richard Childress. Neither man is having a stellar season thus far. Earnhardt Jr. is currently ranked at 19 and Mears is not far behind at 22.