It’s one more frustration
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears want to put their postrace skirmish behind them.
That’s an easy fix.
The daunting part for the former Hendrick Motorsports teammates is getting their middling seasons turned around so they can get within striking distance of the Chase for the championship. Neither driver has enjoyed much success this year – Earnhardt is 19th in his second season with Hendrick and Mears is stuck in 22nd in his first season with Richard Childress Racing.
No wonder two drivers mired in frustrating seasons let their emotions boil over on the cool-down lap last week at Phoenix International Raceway. Mears started the dustup when he made contact with Earnhardt and caused him to crash with 11 laps left in last Saturday’s race, ruining what was likely a needed top-10 finish for Junior. Instead, he fell to 31st.
After the race, Earnhardt intentionally spun Mears on the cool-down lap. Mears retaliated by passing several cars on pit road to find Earnhardt, then bumping into the back of his car.
The drivers originally thought they might escape the incident without any punishment. Instead, NASCAR decided to put both drivers on probation for the next six races, starting this weekend at Talladega, Ala., Superspeedway. Neither driver was fined or lost points.
Earnhardt said he understood the punishment and was ready to make nice with Mears.
“Me and Mears are cool. We’ve been buddies,” Earnhardt said on Friday. “It’s good to be on probation every once and a while, I guess.”
Truex has no regrets
Martin Truex Jr.’s decision to stay with Dale Earnhardt Inc. was based on loyalty and the belief he could help turn around the struggling team.
A mere three months after signing him to a one-year contract extension, DEI merged with Chip Ganassi Racing and everything Truex had planned for was suddenly in limbo. He’s certain the chaos that came with the merger contributed to his poor start this season, but refuses to second-guess his decision.
“You can’t live in the past,” he said. “I made the decision to stick with the team and try to work it out. You could say, ‘Oh man, I should have done this, should have that.’ But at the end of the day, I didn’t, so I’ve got to make it work.”
His poor performance through the first eight races this year has helped push Truex’s name to the front of free agency. In a contract year with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, it’s widely assumed Truex will be moving on at the end of this season.
Gordon’s back ails
Jeff Gordon will chase his fifth Sprint Cup title with a bad back.
Gordon expects to drive with some discomfort this season and the pain he felt last week at Phoenix International Raceway has not entirely subsided. The four-time Cup champ said the tracks in Richmond, Va.; Martinsville, Va.; Bristol, Tenn.; and the road courses could affect him later this year.
The short tracks would affect Gordon the most because they tend to be more physically grueling.
“I’m getting stronger and I don’t expect it to happen overnight and go away,” Gordon said. “It’s going to take time.”
The aches, pains and spasms haven’t affected Gordon’s performance. He snapped a 47-race winless streak at Texas, has six top-10 finishes and holds an 85-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in the Sprint Cup standings.
Rosberg sets F-1 pace
Williams’ Nico Rosberg has proven himself the star of Formula One practice sessions by setting the fastest time ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir.
For the seventh time in 11 practice sessions, the German topped the time sheets again. Now he’s hoping he can transfer that pace to Sunday’s race.