BROOKLYN, Mich. — It was Father’s Day; what more fitting a time for the man who is arguably NASCAR’s “favorite son” to shed a 76-race albatross from around his neck.
Just like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. did.
When the caution flag came out on Earnhardt’s fuel-starved Chevrolet halfway through a NASCAR green-white-checker overtime finish, the wait was over, the streak had ended and there was unbridled jubilation in Earnhardt Nation.
And Dale, Jr. had a good idea that the buzz would be in other NASCAR communities.
“I can understand how it’s going to look, especially if you’re not a Dale, Jr. fan. My fans are happy and I’m happy, but the other half are gonna tear us apart on how we won this race, but so be it. I got the points and I got to see my team and my family happier than they’ve been in a long time.”
Were Junior’s fuel-saving ploys legal? Was passing the pace car under yellow, then shutting the engine off and coasting back into position legal? Did he get a push across the finish line under yellow?
One driver with questions was third-place Matt Kenseth, who wondered about the rules governing passing the pace car.
“There’s nothing wrong with going down on the apron,” he said. “It’s everybody’s idea to save fuel, but I didn’t think you could pass a pace car. (Earnhardt) would stand on the gas and pass the pace car, then shut it off. I thought it was confusing and I had to stay closed up (behind the pace car).”
Kenseth wasn’t that critical, admitting that he would be doing the same thing in the situation Earnhardt was in.
Earnhardt said he was warned by NASCAR to discontinue the practice, and he complied. He did admit that he was “getting a little greedy” with the tactic.
The only push he said he got was the crew pushing the car to victory lane.
“It might have cranked,” he said, “but I thought it would make a better story if it was out of gas.”
But it was obvious that Earnhardt wasn’t going to let such matters bother him. Not on Father’s Day.
“It’s special,” he said of the victory and the day. “My daddy meant a lot to me and it means a lot to me to do well on Father’s Day.”