Dale Earnhardt Jr. defends fans after latest Kyle Busch jab
Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start 30th in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. // Jeff Robinson, NASCAR Scene
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t amused by Kyle Busch’s latest jab at the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Busch, who said a couple weeks ago that new Earnhardt Jr. crew chief Lance McGrew was going to “have his hands full” working with NASCAR’s most popular driver, took a shot at Earnhardt Jr.’s fans on Friday at Michigan International Speedway.
Asked whether he’d gotten much flack about destroying his race-winning guitar after last weekend’s Nationwide Series race Nashville Superspeedway, Busch replied that the only people bothered were “the ones with 88s tattooed on their arms, or maybe still 8s [Earnhardt Jr.’s current and former car numbers].”
Busch also called Earnhardt Jr.’s fans, “crazy.”
“I think the guy is just trying to direct a lot of people to his web site or to his column and generate ad revenue for said web site I suppose,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday when told that Busch had remarked about his fans. “I really don’t see how that argument really is that relevant to anything and I don’t even know really what kind of problem he has or what kind of solution he wants. I don’t really get into it.”
Earnhardt Jr. and Busch, of course, have a bit of a checkered past.
The two drivers tangled last season while racing for lead in the spring Richmond race, with Earnhardt Jr. spinning after a nudge from Busch’s No. 18 Toyota. The accident set off a firestorm of animosity from Earnhardt Jr. fans toward Busch in the following weeks.
Busch is also the driver that Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick parted ways with at the end of the 2007 season to make room for Earnhardt Jr. in his four-car stable.
“My fans will handle themselves,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “They’re good people. We’ve got a lot of great fans that follow this sport and they’re very loyal to us and we need them more now than ever right now, so I think anyone who would be calling them out and stirring them up is causing problems not only for himself but everyone else in this sport.”
