Earnhardt Jr. defends decision not to push Gordon at Talladega
By SceneDaily Staff
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Doug Benc / Getty Images
RICHMOND, Va. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is defending a move late in last Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway that drew criticism from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon.
Earnhardt Jr. said on Friday at Richmond International Raceway that he understands, however, why Gordon questioned his decision to follow Penske Racing’s Ryan Newman to the middle line of a three-wide pack leaving Gordon on the outside behind Roush Fenway Racing’s David Ragan.
“He felt like it was 25 to go and I should have helped him and went with him, but I felt like the person that he went with or tried to get behind and help was not the best choice,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “From where he sat, if I was him I would have felt liked I dumped him. From where I was at, I felt like I was making the wisest choice between the two of us.”
When the dust settled, neither Hendrick mate got the finish he wanted despite running near the front for most of the race. Earnhardt Jr. suffered damage in a multicar crash with 15 laps to go and finished 10th. Gordon got shuffled out in the final laps and came home 19th.
“You’re going to make decisions that sometimes you’re going to work with your teammates and sometimes you’re not," Gordon said on Friday at Richmond. "I feel like the decision I made and the decision he made just didn’t really blend together. Yeah, I was mad about it at the time. It’s a non-issue now.”
Earnhardt Jr. said his choice not to get behind Gordon was based solely on what he felt gave him the best chance to win the race and end a then-70-race losing streak.
“It would have done us a lot of good to have sat down before the race at any point this year to discuss our morals and our choices in restrictor-plate racing and what we believe to be fair and what we believe to be right and what we believe to be wrong, so that everybody has a better understanding of what to expect of each other. … That’s just something we’ll have to learn together as teammates,” said Earnhardt Jr., who is in his first season as the driver of Hendrick's No. 88 Chevrolet. “Restrictor-plate racing is difficult because you want to help your teammates, but you want to win the race, too. Had we won the week before and weren’t trying to end the streak of losses, I would understand probably a whole lot more having to work with him and give up a little bit more in my opinion of what I thought was going to help me win the race. I would have been willing to sacrifice more to help him.
“When the green flag dropped in that race, I didn’t want anything but the win, and I was going to do whatever it took. I don’t know how it would have played out if I would have helped him, but we definitely wouldn’t have been in the situation that we were in to get in all that action at the end and end up having to struggle to the finish.”
Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. talked about the race this week during a test session at Nashville Superspeedway and seem to have a better understanding.
“We sat down and I said, ‘Look, man. I’ve got nothing but respect for you. I’m the first guy here ready to cooperate; I’m the last guy wanting to make problems to cause any issues,’” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m determined, and I go out there and race hard, and he can see that. And he can see that when he’s on the race track. I guess the one thing that he wanted to make sure that he understood was that I didn’t have a spot in my mind to spite him or to show him up in any way.
"That’d be foolish for me. That’d be pretty immature to even act that way at this point. There’s a positive competitiveness that you can have amongst teammates, and that wouldn’t be very productive.”
Though he defends his move, Earnhardt Jr. said he may take a different approach in restrictor-plate races down the road.
“We’ll try to do a better job of working together next time to win the race," he said. "I definitely feel like there’s a better opportunity to win the race as teammates working together than we do separately. And we should take that opportunity next time and try to do the best we can with it.”
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