Earnhardt Jr. Frustrated Again

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Reutimann are two competitors in a sport that is fast and loose at times because of the speeds and timing requirements of their sport. It takes talent, timing and intangibles of an unknown type to be a NASCAR champion. Neither of these gentlemen has exactly been the top racer during the 2009 NASCAR season, both having their ups and downs due to race cars that are still in need of tweaking, and at times bad or aggressive decisions.

Sunday on the New Hampshire International Speedway they were both racing for nothing but a win, pride and respect as the sixth-annual NASCAR playoff round, the Chase, kicked off with the Sylvania 300. Earnhardt and his team had finally gotten the car to the point where they thought they had a real chance for their first win this year, but it just wasn’t meant to be as Earnhardt was knocked into the outside wall by Reutimann’s loose car in Turn 3. Reutimann had the faster and more consistent car this day, but during the last hundred miles he had to deal with a race car that wasn’t handling as well as they wanted. They were running side by side in fifth and sixth with just 18 laps to go at the time they went into Turn 3 and both were certainly thinking they had a chance to win and certainly finish in the top five, if they could get past the car beside them and then the racing gods took over.

Earnhardt attempted to get back in the race but was forced to limp to his garage, his day over, Reutimann on the other hand was able to keep racing and ended up 12^th after he was able to make it through two more restarts. Reutimann understandably didn’t want to talk to any one about the incident after the crash and quickly exited stage left. Earnhardt on the other hand was visibly upset the events that occurred on the track and a seasons worth of frustration poured out of him.

Accidents are a normal occurrence during a NASCAR event. It’s just part of the business and while I understand Earnhardt’s emotions and the need to get them out of his system after a frustrating season, these kinds of events are going to happen.

The race cars in NASCAR generally run on a fine edge during the race and everybody on the track wants to win. Aggression is a normal thing for competitors whose only dream is to win and NASCAR competitors are just as hungry to win as any sports athlete.

Picture: “Zuma Press”