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Earnhardt Jr. says Busch spin not payback

By SceneDaily Staff

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Article Rating: 3.1
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Jerry Markland / Getty Images

Jerry Markland / Getty Images

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RICHMOND, Va. - In the end, it may not matter what the drivers think happened when Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch while fighting for the lead in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400.

Because of the past history between the pair, people will draw their own conclusions about the incident in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Earlier this season, Earnhardt Jr. was running at the front at Richmond, closing in on what appeared to be his first win in two years when he lost the lead after Busch hit him and sent him spinning. While both drivers deemed the incident an accident, Junior’s fans were enraged.

Then came Sunday’s storm-delayed race and the two were at the front again. This time it was Busch in the lead and Earnhardt Jr. chasing him. On lap 212, Earnhardt Jr. tagged the rear quarterpanel of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota and Busch spun.

Did he think there was any intent, any payback in the move?

“Who knows?” Busch said, adding that he thought there simply wasn’t enough room for both of them in that spot.
 
“I tried to make sure that I was leaving enough room down there,” said Busch, who finished 15th. “So, if there was a chance for a mistake, that he had enough room to gather it back up, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough room there and we got together.”
 
Earnhardt Jr. denied any intent on his part, though he did quickly point out that this incident happened earlier in the race.

“If I wreck somebody, I ain’t going to leave him in good enough shape to come back and get me in the same race, so that wasn’t really my intentions,” he said. “If I wanted to – I really ain’t never wrecked anybody on purpose – but if I wanted to do it, I would do it really, really good.”
 
Both he and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. said the car simply got away from the driver.
 
Earnhardt Jr., who went on to finish fourth, said he was working the outside groove when he went into Turn 1 carrying too much speed.
 
“[Busch] was running real hard out on the top and trying to keep the lead,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I was going to try and move up and get next to him and free my car up a little bit. We kinda came down in there, and he turned in there a little sharper, and I locked the left-front up and that was that.”
 
Still, it must have been tempting for NASCAR’s most popular driver to take credit for a little vengeance.
 
“I could say something real smart aleck, but I won’t,” he said. “It was an accident. Those things seem to happen.
 
“Not on purpose, as much as I would like to take credit for it.”

Average Rating: 3.1

Comments

56 responses to "Earnhardt Jr. says Busch spin not payback "
  1. 1
    patsi Wilbanks said:
    Sep 7, 2008 at 6:32 PM

    Well, it sure looked like bull headed Kyle came down on Jr....why does EVERYONE assume Kyle never is the guilty one? Have you noticed even the announcers always go for Kyle in every situation....does he pay these people or what? He is guilty of alot of hot headed intentional stuff, but NO ONE ever says anything negative about him...what's with all that? I don't know how anyone can like Kyle...he is a smart aleck.

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  2. 2
    trackdebris said:
    Sep 7, 2008 at 6:48 PM

    He wins.

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  3. 3
    Patsy Walker said:
    Sep 7, 2008 at 6:55 PM

    The view from the blimp show nothing on Jrs. part, so leave Jr. out of it, just Busch having a hissy fit! It,s his own darn fault! Jr. had a good day , he's in the chase;so now the real fight begins.

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  4. 4
    gwen thompson said:
    Sep 7, 2008 at 7:14 PM

    yea I agree. Kyle did not want Jr. to take the lead. So instead of him getting out of the way, as he was coming down to block Jr. he got his backdoor bumped and he was not able to control it. You may be right about kyle nothing is his fault, well, sure that was not Jr's intention, the boy just got down in front of the wrong driver whom I WOULD LOVE FOR HIM TO HAVE TAKEN HIM OUT ALL THE WAY. But no, that did not happen. It was KYLE BUSCH FAULT. Too selfish to give a lil. This is going to be a chase. That kid do not like loosing, He thinks that he is the best that NASCAR HAS HAD. He takes out his own brother so the KID WILL DO IT TO ANYONE ELSE. So if the announcers are getting PAID. they need to get some KLEENEX TO WIPE THERE TEARS. Cause KYLE AIN'T WINNING THE CHASE.

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  5. 5
    Michelle Trice said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 3:00 AM

    GO KYLE GO!!!!

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  6. 6
    Angela Allen said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 4:18 AM

    Kyle came down on Jr and he knew it causing himself to spin out. Jr checked up let him spin then went by. If Kyle did not come down I think his post race interview would have been like it was a few weeks ago when Carl bumped him out of the way.

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  7. 7
    Chazzo Ozzahc said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 6:00 AM

    Watch again folks...as Junebug was locking 'em up, he gave that steering wheel a yank to the right..just enough to tap Busch. I'm not taking sides, just pointing out the facts. What Junebug says to the media and his true intentions are two different stories. I liked it, thought it was justifiable and hope he does it again.

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  8. 8
    Julie Moll said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 6:01 AM

    In case none of you Busch fans noticed, that tire smoke was from Jr. He locked up his brakes to try and avoid the "Busch Monkey", but there just wasn't enough room or time. Like Jr. said, if he were to wreck someone intentionally, he would make sure it was done right. Remember too Busch fans, Kyle is on probation for a reason...He's a poor sport and an even worse loser.

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  9. 9
    Mark Ernst said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 6:42 AM

    I listend towhat Klye said and he acts like he is the best driver in the history of the sport. His second spin out was so bad that his crew chief had to talk back to him the same way he talks. When he was still at HMS his car wasnt handling right and he was cussing up a storm. His crew chief finally told him to either shut is #$*& mouth,or parkthe car. JJ will win no.3

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  10. 10
    Carrie K said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 7:38 AM

    Dang, Dale Jr just popped my bubble. For a minute I thought that I saw a little bit of his Daddy coming out with that bump. But nope, you can see that he slammed on his brakes to try to avoid it.

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  11. 11
    phyllis hamilton said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 7:47 AM

    payback or not,it was what i have been wanting to see. GO DALE JR.

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  12. 12
    4da88 said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 8:31 AM

    Nope, not June Bug's fault. ;- ) Nonetheless, it sure was fun to watch. Junior still owes the twig one.

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  13. 13
    Donna said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 8:33 AM

    Congrats to Jimmie. The way I saw it, Kyle turned into Jr. Jr. braked and Kyle spun out all by his own. Yahoo. Go Jr.

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  14. 14
    Debbie Webb said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 8:33 AM

    Of course, all of HMS drivers are saints and can think no wrong or do no wrong. Even Nascar goes out of its way to give them the benefit of the doubt. Well, I don't buy it.

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  15. 15
    Kathy Truelove said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 9:29 AM

    To all Jr nation and nascar fans, the next time you go to a race, we need to give Kyle Busch the silent treatment. When they call his name, just sit there, do not clap or cheer him. Lets see how he likes that. :-) Oh, and you Busch fans, well you can cheer if you want. Pass this on!!!

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  16. 16
    marian mcclain said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 9:34 AM

    Junior slammed on the brakes to avoid a bigger crash. He said he didn't do it on purpose and that is good enough for me. No he is nicer than his dad. Love you Junior. Go Junior.

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  17. 17
    sally whan said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 10:44 AM

    I THINK IT WAS GREAT AND A LONG TIME CAMING AND I DO BELIEVE JR DID TRY TO AVOID THE WRECK HE SHOULD HAVE TOOK HIM OUT THE GOOD OLE WAY LIKE HIS DAD, I WISH JR WOULD DRIVE MORE LIKE HIS DAD,WOW,,,BUT GOOD GOING JR AND DO IT AGAIN FOR ALL THE JH NATION FANS WE LOVE IT THE CROWD WENT WILD...GO FOR THE CHASE AND WIN FOR YOU AND US....LOVE YA

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  18. 18
    Peggy Thacker said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 11:16 AM

    Jr. is a gentleman ( but dang I would like to see him just get really mad sometimes )! Maybe..Just maybe #3 looked down Sunday..helped with a little nudge on the rear end of the # 18, give that little grin we all remember, and said .....OOPS!!

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  19. 19
    Pat Draper said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 11:54 AM

    Well finally someone else has the guts to say what i have been saying all along about hendricks and nascar being one. Way to go Debbie. I for one am so sick of the Jr fans. lets face it jr. is no better a driver this year than he was last year. His fans thought different ha. And no matter what anyone says it was a pay back. Go Kyle and take the cup championship. I'm sick and tired of it being all Hendricks.

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  20. 20
    Julie Moll said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 12:39 PM

    Well, I've said it once and I guess I can say it again........All of you whiny Busch fans need to stay off the Jr. fan blogs, and spend your time on Busch's fan pages.(IF he has any) Junior Nation is better off without your whining and crying. We get enough of that every Sunday!! As for Debbie Wade's remark About HMS, just remember where Busch was fired from last year.And obviously for good reason!!!!!!!!

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  21. 21
    beth emerson said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 2:20 PM

    I agree with Julie. if you stupid Kyle fans dont like what is said here then stay out of here. As far as Jr spinning the baby out. He did lock up his brakes and tried to avoid the dummy. He pullerd down in front of Jr. Jr had no choice because Kyle didnt give him one. Payback or not Kyle got what he deserved. Hope Jr does it over and over. You go Jr time to go get the championship. As far as Hendrick drivers go you all only hate them because they were smart enough to dump the little tart called Kyle.

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  22. 22
    Linda Brown said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 4:09 PM

    Hey Pat..You're right. Jr is no better this year than he was last year. Because he was great last year too. He just didn't have the equipment he needed.

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  23. 23
    Robert Wingert said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 5:14 PM

    What goes around comes around and what more fitting a track for it happen then at Richmond. Hendrick lost a cry baby and gained a Nascar driver. So nice to see a Chevy win at The Chevy Rock N Roll 400.

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  24. 24
    emily bagwell said:
    Sep 8, 2008 at 6:11 PM

    Ditto, Julie and Beth. Good comeback, Linda. Go Junior!!! After Junior wins a championship, you will see him get more aggressive on the track---I predict-- I'm patiently waiting on that day---well, maybe not so patiently but waiting all the same!!!

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  25. 25
    Ashley said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 3:34 AM

    I loved how everyone cheered when SHRUB spun out... It would've been even more classic if the fans had all started BOWING in Kyle's direction!

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  26. 26
    Brenda Thompson said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 4:16 AM

    Jrsbiggrstfanbt said I think he was great!!! We all needed to see Kyle Bush get paid back!!! We are on to better times.Jr. can win some races now. He has the old stuff out of the way.We will be ready for next weekend.Lets go Jr. Nation!!!We are there for YOU!

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  27. 27
    John Barnes said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 9:10 AM

    Jr fans are amazing, he says that he came in too fast and locked up but still you say that he it was all Kyle, I am not really a Busch fan but Jr fans realy get on my nerves. You talk about how Kyle acts like it is never his fault that he does nothing wrong but Jr fans act as if he can never do any wrong its always someone else say like Tony Jr. When are ya'll going to face the fact that he is not his daddy and no matter where he goes he will always be an average driver.

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  28. 28
    Chazzo Ozzahc said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 9:41 AM

    I like seeing other people agree with me about Junebug, he's just an average driver with great equipment.All you Junebug fans will be waiting a long time for that coveted championship. The closest he'll be to a championship is at the Hendrick facility,peering through the glass at Jimmy Johnson's.

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  29. 29
    Julie Moll said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 9:56 AM

    Hey John Barnes...We Jr. fans know that he isn't his daddy, it's the rest of you that keep making that comparison. We love Jr. for who he is. Not only is he a great driver but an awesome person as well. (Ya' know there's a reason why he's been the most popular driver for many years in a row!!!!)

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  30. 30
    Julie Moll said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 10:01 AM

    Hey Chazzo......... We'll be around for as long as it takes.

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  31. 31
    John Barnes said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 10:15 AM

    Julie its the Jr fans that hype him up to somthing that he is not and I honestly feel that most of his popularity is due to who his daddy was. I was a Jr fan until he went to HMS I know that he is a good guy but to me that is like selling your soul.

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  32. 32
    otis gleason said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 10:28 AM

    You all need to go buy crying towells now! so you will have them on hand come homestead, Kyle wins, Jimmy second, carl third, burton forth, gordon fifth,smoke sixth, Hamlin seventh, biffle eighth,harvick ninth, earnhardt tenth,bowyer then kenseth sorry!

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  33. 33
    Chazzo Ozzahc said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 12:13 PM

    Otis,Otis,Otis...you got it all wrong,no way junebug finishes tenth, try 12th. Its called self destruction.

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  34. 34
    McReal Name said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 12:50 PM

    loser 88...just like his old man.

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  35. 35
    McReal Name said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 1:14 PM

    if ya cant beat'em, put'em in the wall..... 88 not fall far from the 3 tree.

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  36. 36
    Bob Snyder said:
    Sep 9, 2008 at 2:57 PM

    McReal, not liking Jr. is fine. We all have our favorite driver, but you crossed the line when you brought a dead man into the mix. Whether you liked Dale Sr. or not, there was no better influence on NASCAR racing as a whole. Evidence of that fact is what NASCAR has done to the sport since his death. Anyone who is a 'true' fan knows this and would not make such a ridiculous statement!

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