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Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s Regan Smith doesn't regret Talladega finish

By David Exum - SceneDaily Staff

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

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Jerry Markland / Getty Images for NASCAR

Jerry Markland / Getty Images for NASCAR

Regan Smith, driving the No. 01 Dale Earnhardt Inc., entry goes below the yellow line to pass Tony Stewart on the final lap in Sunday's Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

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Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s Regan Smith is doing his best to put Sunday's heartbreaking finish at Talladega Superspeedway behind him.

Smith went below the yellow line on the final lap of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in an attempt to beat Tony Stewart to the finish. The move did put him ahead of Stewart, and momentarily appeared to give Smith his first career Cup win. Then NASCAR officials penalized Smith for going below the yellow line, a move that is not allowed on restrictor-plate tracks, to complete the pass. Stewart was the winner and Smith was moved to the last car on the lead lap, resulting in a high-profile 18th-place finish.

Two days later, Smith seems to have no regrets about the move.

“I’m definitely proud of the way that we raced at Talladega. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I hadn’t gone for the win," Smith said. "I had a solid shot to win the race and I was racing against Stewart. It doesn't get much better than that."

Smith also made it absolutely clear that there was no way he was just going to tuck behind Stewart and finish second.

"I knew that I had to go for the win,” he said. "If I had just sat back there in second place, I would have had 400 people at Dale Earnhardt Inc. mad at me. The guys built me a great car, and I owed them a chance at the win."

Once Stewart came down to block Smith in an effort to preserve his position, Smith could have wheeled his Chevy into Stewart, but realized that kind of move would be too risky at Talladega.

"I grew up working on my own race cars, so I respect the guys that work for me and [Stewart] way too much to tear up our cars and make those guys repair them," Smith said. "Not to mention, I could have wrecked the entire field, not just Tony and myself, and there really was no reason for that.” 

Although Smith hasn't had a lot to celebrate this season, he has been able to keep his team inside the top-35 in the series owners points and therefore guarantee himself a position in each race. While DEI has not won this year, he says he considers the organization to be one of the best in the business.

“We’ve got four great teams at Dale Earnhardt Inc. and I was glad to see us get some of the recognition we deserve." Smith said. "We have a lot of really good people working on these teams, and I think you were able to see the product of that effort on Sunday.”

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Comments

14 responses to "Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s Regan Smith doesn't regret Talladega finish"
  1. 1
    patsi Wilbanks said:
    Oct 7, 2008 at 4:37 PM

    Regan should have been declared the winner...he was FORCED over that line!!!!

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  2. 2
    Timmie Timmons said:
    Oct 7, 2008 at 6:00 PM

    NASCAR can't tell me that Regan did not win. Even Tony himself pulled off his gloves after the finish and slung them on the dash of his car in anger. Even Tony THOUGHT he lost. Well NASCAR like others in politics, will sratch each others backs. Regan, congratulations you won that race and all NASCAR knows it.

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  3. 3
    Sharleen Snygg said:
    Oct 7, 2008 at 6:29 PM

    Well if he thought he lost then he didn't know Smith went below the yellow line, hello, all he did was block, Smith said that. And kudos to Smith for not wrecking the whole field and turning into Tony

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  4. 4
    George Rice said:
    Oct 7, 2008 at 6:34 PM

    NASCARS RULE BOOK SAYS YOU CAN'T GO BELOW THE YELLOW LINE FOR ANY REASON AND ADVANCE YOUR POSITION. I AM A CHEVY MAN AND I DID NOT WANT A TOYOTA TO WIN. TONY WILL BE IN A CHEVY NEXT YEAR SO LOOK OUT TOY's WERE COMING AT YA.

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  5. 5
    donna burks said:
    Oct 7, 2008 at 7:17 PM

    Smith tried to cheat to get his win, he was not forced down, that you can plainly see on the replay of the fideo on the race. Tony won fair and square, smith went way below the yellow line. he did not win, My Congratulations to Tony. Tony was the winner, Why can't you all DEI accept it. Way to go Tony

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  6. 6
    Jozef Colomy said:
    Oct 7, 2008 at 10:50 PM

    If by "cheat" you mean "race" Donna, then yes I suppose Regan did "[try] to cheat"...for as long as I've known though the R in NASCAR stood for "Racing" not "Rule-changing". NASCAR officials are on record saying that on the final lap "get what you can get" and "if you can see the checkered flag-stand then it's on", etc. Tony Stewart won a fluke race and a promising your driver got screwed because he's not the one in the Subway commercials or the one who's sponsored by The Home Depot, coincidentally the "Official Home Improvement Warehouse of NASCAR". Guaranteed if Tony Stewart had been the one who out-raced Regan Smith, like Smith did him, then NASCAR would've interpretted the rule a little differently :-/

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  7. 7
    marian mcclain said:
    Oct 8, 2008 at 6:11 AM

    You can never advance your position by going below the yellow line. Get over it. Montoya went below and got back in line where he was supposed to be. No penalty.

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  8. 8
    Case Closed said:
    Oct 8, 2008 at 6:37 AM

    Regan Smith lost because he had no guts. Any good driver including his team mates would have put Tony in the wall and nascar took the win from Smith in hopes of turning him into a race car driver.

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  9. 9
    chris welch said:
    Oct 8, 2008 at 8:28 AM

    I like tony stewart. but, all of these people saying that he didnt FORCE regan smith below the line are ABSOLUTLEY CRAZY. the 01 was under the 20 BEFORE he went under the line. regan did not "CHEAT", the only one who did is tony stewart. if you watch the replay, and imagine if regan doesnt go under the line,stewart would have spun out. stewart was going all the way to the line whether the 01 was there or not. he blocked so hard because he thought he was clear. but the rule also states that you can not force someone below the line which tony is guilty of. winner: paul menard. i am not a tony hater, just telling it like it is. some of you people are being blinded by being a diehard fan of tony stewart, but he didnt deserve the win.

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  10. 10
    Go 29 Harvick said:
    Oct 8, 2008 at 8:49 AM

    I absolutely agree with Chris - well said - enough said. Ahem brotha

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  11. 11
    BILL PARHAMENKO said:
    Oct 8, 2008 at 2:18 PM

    Regan Smith won that race and everybody seems to know it, except for NASCAR. The only thing Regan Smith did wrong was having the wrong last name. It was not that long ago that Dale Jr. passed below the yellow line on the last lap at Talladega. He got to keep his win. There seems to be a double standard on the way the rules are applied by NASCAR. I am begining to think that are are no rules and NASCAR is making it up as they go.

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  12. 12
    FRANK LAVACCA said:
    Oct 9, 2008 at 3:02 AM

    why is it that jr. is always brought into these stupid arguments when he was wrecked by the rousch boys.tony is no favorite of nascar,he is disruptive,angry and a hot head,my kind of driver.he took a chance and blocked and pushed regan below the line,he knew it and was lucky it wasn't kyle[punk]busch or he would have ended up in the fence just like he did to "jr."did.lay off tony,its nascar and ''in their opinion"rules that are at fault,tony did what had to be done and so did regan.the kid ran a clean race or tony would have ended up next to hamlin in the hospital!!!!

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  13. 13
    Ron Kokofsky said:
    Oct 9, 2008 at 6:27 AM

    Racing is Racing: Tony is lucky it wasn't someone with more experience. The experienced driver would have held is line, foot on the floor and sent Tony BYE-BYE. I'm an ex/racer and that's what I've have done. WHY??? Because Tony would have done it to another driver for the win. Ron Kokosky #27

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  14. 14
    Tim the Fan said:
    Oct 9, 2008 at 4:32 PM

    I read NASCARS official statement the next day on the other race site (nascar.com). Anyway they white washed it there and it was truely laughable. They even infered that Stewart never attempted to block. Then if that's true when Smith went high why did Tony go high? And once Tony was high and Smith went low then why did Tony jump low? If Tony stayed high he gets beat. Tony counted on the guy being a great sport and giving into the Great Smoke. Lucky it wasn't about twenty some other guys I can think of or they would have held the line that was theirs and Senior Smoke goes another year without a win at Taledega. I know it's not much of a concellation to Smith but I hope he reads all these comments and realizes that the true fans of NASCAR concider him the winner. And oh, where were the beer cans?

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