Dale Earnhardt Jr. Breaks Silence on Race Manipulation Accusation at Roval

The recent Bank of America 400 race at the Roval was finished under some controversial circumstances. In the late stages of the race, some teams were accused of intentionally holding back their second drivers in order to help protect the playoff standings of a teammate. Despite the questionable circumstances, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. claims that it isn’t really a big deal.

Amongst others, Cole Custer and Alex Bowman were at the center of the controversy of intentionally holding back to help their teammates maintain their playoff position. Although this idea seems wrong in theory, it would definitely help a driver a lot in his championship ambitions. Even though it caused some poor racing action, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not against this idea and rather promoted it more.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. insisted that he had zero problems with a spotter informing their driver of the points situation and how they had to hold back to help their teammates. Dale Jr. added that there was video evidence of Cole Custer not overtaking Joey Logano and others, but no one cared about it. The 50-year-old questioned who even cared about such matters anymore.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reckoned that as long as the drivers weren’t super egregious or disruptive while helping their teammates, it was alright. The Hall of Famer did not want to see drivers coming down the pit lane just to blow their own race or spin other drivers out on purpose. As long as such antics were not carried out by the teams and drivers, it was right to intentionally hold back from racing too hard.

I have zero problem with any spotter saying, ‘Here’s the points situation.’ Honestly, there’s all these videos of was Cole Custer not trying to pass the 22, was Bowman not trying to race the 1 — who cares. At this point, who cares,I guess as long as it ain’t super egregious or guys coming down pit road just to blow their own race and get off the track or a guy spinning out on purpose.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on Dale Jr. Download.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. claims NASCAR ‘can’t police’ such issues within teams and drivers

Denny Hamlin overtook Ross Chastain on track and caused the latter to get eliminated and not qualify for the Round of 8. Hamlin was extremely apologetic for this, and he could have been informed by the team to intentionally hold back to help Chastain. Dale Earnhardt Jr. pointed out that NASCAR cannot truly police these situations and let the teams and drivers decide for themselves.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. insisted that NASCAR couldn’t police the situations because there were conversations that happened between the teams during the race week. Dale Jr. predicted that there were definitely discussions among the Chevrolet drivers helping each other on track, and it was completely alright. The 50-year-old reiterated that the drivers need not be egregious and cause major accidents on track just to help their counterparts.

He should. Give me the information and let me choose. … You can’t police it because there’s conversations that happen during the week, I don’t know that this happened but let’s just imagine all the guys in the Chevrolet world probably had some conversation at some point about what the situation was with each Chevrolet driver in the playoffs. You can’t police this stuff, so it doesn’t bother me.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. noted

Regardless of the backlash on the matter, the race is already over, with certain drivers moving up the elimination rounds. NASCAR has always remained highly competitive and interesting, no matter the consequences ahead of the race. The governing body is likely not going to enforce rules to prevent such teamwork in the future, but anything can happen. For now, all eyes will be on the final eight drivers and how they move up the rounds.

Read More: Denny Hamlin Urges NASCAR to Get Rid of Charlotte Roval Races

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