Dale Earnhardt Jr. regrets pitting despite severe vibration
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started from the pole Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but his run was stalled by a severe vibration in the No. 88 Chevrolet. He finished 15th.
LADON GEORGE
// LaDon George, NASCAR Illuustrated
HAMPTON, Ga. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. felt he had no choice but to pit under green for tires when his car started vibrating severely during the Kobalt Tools 500 on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt Jr. was running sixth when he had the wheel issue, and he dropped back to 31st. He worked his way up to 15th to salvage a decent day.
But decent wasn’t what Earnhardt Jr. expected as he had put his Hendrick Motorsports car on the pole for the race.
“We were running pretty good, but I don’t know – we got two bad right-side tires and right-rear tires,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It felt like the damn wheels were coming off. We pitted and the wheel was fine, but the car was vibrating so bad I couldn’t hardly see.”
While Earnhardt Jr. felt he had little choice but to pit, he seemed a little frustrated that pitting wound up possibly as the wrong choice since his team could find nothing wrong.
Stu Grant, Goodyear's manager of racing tires, said all of the Earnhardt Jr.'s tires looked fine.
“I should have not pitted but I thought the wheel was loose, and I have had them come off here and they’re not fun,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I should’ve just stayed out there and waited for it to come off.”
Earnhardt Jr. moved up two spots in the standings to 13th and is just seven points out of 12th.
