Earnhardt apologizes for incident at Daytona
28 Comments Quote selected text Published February 20th, 2009 in NASCAR News
Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave his version of a mea culpa Friday, accepting blame for the big wreck with Brian Vickers last weekend in the Daytona 500.
“I got ripped really bad in the press, and maybe I deserved part of it,” Earnhardt said after practice at Auto Club Speedway. “It’s different being on that side of the fence.”
Vickers was the star of the day at ACS, winning the pole for Sunday’s Auto Club 500.
“The best way move on is give them something else to talk about,” Vickers said. “Obviously, we did that in a positive way.”
Vickers was coming off a big negative at Daytona. He finished 39th after being involved in the accident with Earnhardt, who called Vickers earlier this week.
“It was much appreciated,” Vickers said of the call. “He apologized and said he did not mean to do it. I didn’t know what to say. We finished almost last because of what happened. Of course I was upset about it, but the call means a lot.”
Vickers and Earnhardt were a lap down on the inside line when the accident happened. Earnhardt made a move to pass Vickers, who blocked Earnhardt and forced him below the yellow line.
Knowing the rules don’t allow drivers pass anyone below the line, Earnhardt wanted to get back above the line as fast as possible. He moved back up the track too quickly, clipping Vickers’ car and starting a wreck involving 10 cars on lap 124, 28 laps before rain ended the event.
“I definitely could have used better judgment coming back up on the race track,” Earnhardt said. “But rain was coming and I had to get my lap back to have a shot at winning.
“I hate that it wrecked all them cars and I hate that me and Brian got on bad terms with each other. Those things I regret.”
Ok jr takes some of the blame even though that wreck wasnt his fault,say what you want but I want to hear vickers say I went below the line trying to block jr…which what vickers did by nascars rules was illegal he didnt get forced below the line he went below it on his own trying to block jr and forced jr down there so why isnt vickers saying im sorry It was my fault to start with???
dude, Im a huge jr fan, but jr was at SOME fault. Granted, he was pissed because of the mistakes in the pit so he was driving a little harder, and it showed. He could have let off just a tad. Granted, Vickers should not have forced him below the double yellow, so if you wanna look at it like that and say that is what caused the accident than so be it. But the truth is both were at fault, but even more so, it was just good hard racing and the media, and us are blowing it way out of proportion.
I will say jr is being the bigger man though, Vickers has never taken any blame for it, Jr has
What exactly did Vickers do wrong? He made a 100% legal move, period end of story.
yea i saw the replay and i still want to kno wat vickers did wrong. he never went blow the line. jr did. jr jus came back up too quickly.
Ganjadude wrote:
I didnt say jr wasnt at fault if you read what I said.
Fisha695 wrote:
Fisha vickers went below the yellow line before dale did,so according to nascar rules he made a 100% wrong move PERIOD END OF STORY,Oh yeah fisha lets put a * next to vickers win at talladega considering he wrecked HIS own team mate and Jr,what a coward vickers is….
Fisha695 wrote:
I guess it might have been where nascar said in the drivers meeting that if someone tries to pass you and you force them below the yellow line , that nascar “can” penalize the blocker for causing the passer to have to go below the line. Nascar didnt penalize Vickers , eventhough he did cross the yellow line trying to block Jr. , so I guess they thought it was ok. With that all said , I still think Jr. should have made a better decision than he did. But , I think he shows alot of class by apoligizing about the wreck. So now Vickers should also take fault and it will be over.
And before someone says , “no Vickers was above the yellow line!”….heres the video and @ 00:29 , notice how the yellow line just happens to be under Vickers car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UOsGzxVoVI
Lee88_14 wrote:
Vickers going below the yellow line was 100% legal as well as he was not going down to advance his position.
And Vickers didn’t wreck Jr at Dega either, Vickers wrecked Johnson, and Johnson wrecked Jr (if you would read the article above you would have seen that).
And Justin you hit the nail on the head, NASCAR “[b]CAN[/b]” (hope that bold code works) penalize you for blocking down there, but they don’t have to and it is not against the rules to do so.
But Vickers going below the yellow line is a mute point because that is only out of bounds if you are making the pass, and Vicker wasn’t making a pass.
I found this quote straight from the 2008 Daytona 500 drivers meeting.
“This is your warning: race above the yellow line. If, in NASCAR’S judgment, you go below the yellow line to improve your position, you will be black-flagged. If in NASCAR’s judgment you force someone below the yellow line (in an effort to stop him from passing you), you may be black-flagged.”
Sounds to me like Nascar has a subjective rule inforcement policy.
In the drivers’ meeting before the 2003 Daytona 500, NASCAR president Mike Helton expanded the rule to include a black flag for any driver that forced another below the line in an effort to avert a pass. A black flag virtually eliminates any chance of victory at Daytona or Talladega because it takes about a lap to get a restrictor plate-laden car back up to speed. In many cases, a penalized driver will drop at least a full lap behind.
ESPN: Without question, the yellow line at the bottom of the track has stopped some of those accidents at the two restrictor-plate tracks — Daytona and Talladega. But it also causes others because drivers use the line as a blocking technique.
That’s what Vickers did to Earnhardt on Sunday when the two drivers were fighting to be the first car a lap down, and thus the first car in line to get that lap back should a caution occur.
Earnhardt was pushed below the line. Knowing he couldn’t pass anyone there, Earnhardt wanted to get back above the line as fast as possible. He moved back up the track too quickly, clipping Vickers and starting a huge wreck
Sports Illustrated:Winston Cup director John Darby said Friday, “The yellow line rule will be explained to all the drivers again tomorrow at the drivers’ meeting. However, it will probably be explained the same way it has been since its inception.”
Darby said the rule is “very, very simple. If a car goes below the yellow line to advance his position — in other words pass the car in front of him — then he’s subject to a penalty.”
He added that a driver forcing another car below the line is also subject to a penalty.
AND THEN THESE 2 GUYS>>>”I was pretty clear on it before Talladega and now I’m pretty confused on it,” said four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon. “Maybe we need to go back and revisit that.”
Gordon said the way he interprets the rule, “one of those two cars should have been penalized. Whether it was one car forcing the other car down below the yellow line or the other car went below the yellow line to gain the position.”
Kevin Harvick said he doesn’t understand the rule now, either.
“If you get shoved down there, you just have to hope it goes in your favor and let off and be smart about it,” Harvick said
I guess it all revolves around whether Mike Helron is in a good mood or not…lol.
Justin 99 wrote:
My point justin
was just explained even last weekend nascar told the drivers if you force another driver below the yellow line which vickers did to Jr is a illegal move and will be black flagged for it…So get your facts straight fisha what vickers did WAS NOT a 100% legal move vickers was in the wrong.
Lee did you not read what both I and Justin wrote?
They did not say you WILL be penalized, they said you MAY be back flagged. The words will and may have very different meanings.
His block is 100% legal, just like going 5mph over the Speed limit is 100% legal, yeah you usually get away with it, but they do reserve the right to penalize you for it if they like.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending blocking, I come from a road-racing/open-wheel way of thinking where any and all blocking is rightfully banned, but what Vickers did was and for the rest of history will always be a 100% legal move.
Did you guys hear something? huh, what? No, just the wind blowing.
Hold on what am I missing here, why is there any discussion on this. Jr made the call to Vickers and he accepted responsibility for the accident. So why is everyone still defending him, he admitted it was his fault, nit that it was intentional but that he could have used better judgment.
All this talk about blocking is pointless thats what they do, and yes we all know Nascars view on the blocking and the yellow lines. We will never know if Nascar thought Vickers block was wrong or not, cause Jr wrecked him before Nascar could make a call. If jr would have let off then nascar may or may not have black flagged vickers we dont know.
Bottom line is JR accepted responsibility, he made the call. Yes it was a class move on jr’s part to make the call, he manned up and took blame.
Fisha695 wrote:
I get what you mean fisha,I’m just saying vickers acts like hes innocent of any wrong doing and thats crap.
Lee88_14 wrote:
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Cause Jr is a bigger man than Vickers thats why…
Fisha695 wrote:
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Fisha get some glasses and go watch it again.
Justin 99 wrote:
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I seen that Justin purely illegal move on Vickers part, I guess everyone else is blind.
Fisha695 wrote:
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Just cannot get the peanuts out can ya fisha?
Jack Daniels wrote:
It is not illegal to force somebody down below the yellow line, and it is not illegal to race below the yellow line (unless you are passing people).
Did it occur to anyone the only reason Jr apologized to start with is because he couldn’t take the heat from the media? He was just trying to save face. Move on people, its a new week!
Fisha695 wrote:
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YES, it is illegal to force someone below the yellow line, YOU GET BLACK FLAGGED FOR IT!!!
Is that wind blowing again, or is it a tycoon coming?
observant bystander wrote:
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Where is Vickers appoligy?, I believe and nobody can change my mind that Jr was showing how much of a bigger man he can be, media has nothing to do with it.
Jack Daniels wrote:
No, you MAY get blacked flagged for it. If it was an Illegal move you would ALWAYS get black flagged for it. There is a difference. Such as driving 5mph over the limit you MAY get a ticket, but driving 25mph over the limit you WILL get a ticket. 5mph is not illegal, however Cops can still ticket you for it if they want.
Fisha695 wrote:
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The verbatim language is …
This is your warning: race above the yellow line. If, in NASCAR’s judgment, you go below the yellow line to improve your position, you will be black-flagged. If in NASCAR’s judgment you force someone below the yellow line (in an effort to stop him from passing you), you may be black-flagged.
The wind is blowing again Sam……..
Rule taken from Nascar.com
Jack Daniels wrote:
Yes that is the rule, but do you not comprehend what the word “may” means? It means that they have the option and you have been warned that they have the option.
If it was illegal it would say, “If in NASCAR’s judgment you force someone below the yellow line (in an effort to stop him from passing you), you Will be black-flagged”. But it doesn’t because the move is not illegal.
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What the hell kind of language is this?