MOTOR SPORTS: Source in garage says Earnhardt Jr. turtled

By Jason Marin Sportsuperstarz.com Columnist

A week after seeing his dad die in a turn three crash at the Daytona 500, it was surprising to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. climb into his race car. No one would have been surprised if the son of the legend would have taken the week off to heal. However, he climbed back into his car, showing no fear. At least that is what it looked like.

Earnhardt Jr. entered his number eight, Budweiser sponsored, Chevrolet Monte Carlo and started fifteenth under gray skies in Rockingham, North Carolina. However, his day would end less than two minutes later. Earnhardt entered turn three, hit his breaks, and was hit by Ron Hornaday. This drove him into the wall and out of the race. The accident was an ironic twist and an unfortunate accident, or at least it looked that way.

According to a source in the NASCAR garage that spoke with Sportsuperstarz.com on condition of anonymity, this was not the case. The source, who spoke with me a short time after the race was called due to rain, stated that the real reason that Earnhardt Jr. got into a wreck was that he was scared to be back in his race car so soon after seeing his father die.

“The guy turtled,” said the source. “The guy saw everything around him and didn’t want to be back in that race car. If you look at the wreck, it might as well have been staged. There was nothing in it to get anyone hurt, it was to get him out of the race. And the reason the guy wanted out, is that he got scared.”

According to the source, Earnhardt Jr. applied his breaks, knowing that a car would hit him in the back. The cars at that point were not spread out and were not going fast, so the wreck wouldn’t have been one to cause any injuries. According to the source, Earnhardt Jr. then told his crew not to fix the care following the accident, so that he could get out the race.

“The guy got nervous and started thinking to much,” said the source. “He would have been better served to take the week off, but he tried to show everyone how brave he could be. It then backfired. He should have just taken the week off, but he didn’t. The guy lost his water and decided to get the easy way out.”

According to the source, Earnhardt Jr.’s car was fixable. However, Earnhardt Jr. stated that he would rather get ready for Las Vegas the next week, instead of coming back into the Dura Lube 400. According to the source however, no one in racing blames Earnhardt Jr. for what would normally be a suspect act.

“No one blames the guy losing his nerve,” said the source. “If my dad died I would probably have done the same thing. However, the guy could have relaxed and taken the week off. He didn’t have to turtle. Instead it makes him look bad, for getting scared. He shouldn’t have raced.”

However Earnhardt Jr. did and now even more questions are left to be answered.

Article courtesy of Sportsuperstarz.com