General Discussion » What is really wrong with Dale Jr
Only JR knows. He's always said he does not like the COT car. And I think that is stuck in his head. Eventually he will get it and accept it. ( I HOPE ).
McMurray takes blame for running over Earnhardt Jr.
By SceneDaily Staff
Monday, June 30, 2008
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88, right) spins after colliding with Jamie McMurray (26, left) during Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Jim McIsaac
Getty Images
LOUDON, N.H. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. watched a solid day disappear when he was hit by Jamie McMurray in Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt Jr. was heading to pit road under green-flag conditions when he was slammed into and spun by McMurray. The Roush Fenway Racing driver said he was watching another car as he tried to make a pass and never saw the Hendrick Motorsports car slowing in front of him.
"Certainly it’s my fault," McMurray said.
He says that he had not been told that Earnhardt Jr. was pitting.
"Typically when guys pit like that the spotters all get together and wave their hands or what not and the spotter never said anything and I was looking at the 10 car [of Patrick Carpentier] on the outside," he said. "I was on the apron because that’s where I’d been running all day. I didn’t see Junior until I hit him.”
Earnhardt Jr. was relegated to a 24th-place finish after getting back on the track following the lap 272 incident.
That was actually one position better than points leader Kyle Busch in the finishing order.
"It's just a part of it," crew chief Tony Eury Jr. said. "I don't know, I guess Jamie didn't see him down there. But all in all, it looks like the 18 [of Busch] had a little trouble so we didn't lose that much ground in the points, and we'll just look forward to getting to Daytona."
Earnhardt Jr. maintained his third position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. He trails leading Busch by 144 points and is 80 behind second-running Jeff Burton.
Mentioned Drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Comments
25 responses to "McMurray takes blame for running over Earnhardt Jr.". Post a Comment.
sondra peckinpaugh said:
Jun 29, 2008 at 10:29 PMJust a wild day on the track! More then a few tempers were lost, wish jr. could have done better, but Kurt getting a win is nice.
brandy kyser said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 9:31 AMi thought junior could have won the race but then he got wrecked and i was mad but then 42 wrecked the 18 and that made me sooo HAPPPY!! go junior
Dr. Spaceman said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 2:29 PMI don't know why Jamie would take blame for that wreck. Jr. slammed on his brakes while still on the track and caused the entire mess.
McReal Name said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 2:41 PMRIGHT ON Spaceman!!!
mike williams said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 3:37 PMspaceman you are one stupid person!!!!!!!!
Pearl Roll said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 4:20 PMIt was Jr. fault 100%. Golden boy did a stupid move. Right on spaceman!! Williams is just as stupid as jr.s move!!
Marie Edwards said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 4:25 PMI have been to several races and drivers generally do not "slam" on their breaks entering the pits; they go into the apron, and reduce their speed. As a side note, race cars do not have brake lights (those are stickers), so if anyone "hits" the brakes, another driver can not see that the driver in front of them is stopping or "slowing down". That is a role for the spotters to say "the 88 is slowing or pitting" which clearly did not happen. Getting off the track, in some states if you rear end someone, regardless of why they stopped, you can be cited for failure to yield "due care". With that said I respect Jamie for taking responsibiity for admitting he wasn't paying attention & Dale Jr for not blowing the entire accident out of proportion.
Marie Edwards said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 4:25 PMmeant "brakes"
Marie Edwards said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 4:26 PMEarnhardt Jr. was heading to pit road under green-flag conditions when he was slammed into and spun by McMurray. The Roush Fenway Racing driver said he was watching another car as he tried to make a pass and never saw the Hendrick Motorsports car slowing in front of him. Clearly Jamie was not paying attention and admitted it. That takes a "big man" to admit his mistakes.
kristy fristed said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:27 PMThe wreck that occured was clearly not Jr.s fault. All he is doing is driving the car to the pits. How is he to know whether the spotters told the car behind him. He was on the apron, going to pit. It was clearly a case of no one communicating with each other. Jr and Mcmurray were doing what they do, driving. The spotters are there to let them know whats going on around them. Its there fault.
Marie Edwards said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:30 PMExactly. I'd like to know since when is "pitting" considered a stupid move? I thought it was part of racing. I have attended my share of races and trust me, they do not "slam" on their brakes. They move off the track, onto the apron (lower portion of the track not really used for racing) and reduce speed, because by the time they hit that commitment line--they have to be at "pit road" speed.
Marie Edwards said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:32 PMI do admire Jamie for not making excuses and at least accepting some of the responsibility.
4da88 said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:40 PMI said when it happened there would be someone that would blame Jr for being ran over. Should have known one would be Pearl. Yes drivers do hit their brakes as not to speed onto pit road (however they are off the track), and most drivers race on the track, not the apron (as Jamie admits he was doing). Jamie was watching the 10 car on the inside and was depending on spotters help, it did not come. At any rate, it was NOT the driver of the 88 car that caused the mess.
florence armour said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:41 PMyeah i was there for the hole thing. at least jamie took the blame unlike some others.
4da88 said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:42 PMThat is the outside that Jamie was watching.
Marie Edwards said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:47 PMThat is correct, drivers hit the brakes since that 3400 pound missle is doing triple digit speeds, and they need to "slow down". But, they don't "slam" on the brakes. Personally, I view "slam" to mean they hit the brakes & come to a "dead stop". I think it depends on your view of certain words. But clearly the 88 was not at fault, and if Jamie's spotter didn't tell him what the 88 was doing, it isn't Jamie's fault either; but he at least accepted the blame. That shows his integrity & maturity as a driver.
Marie Edwards said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:49 PMLike in driving off the track, if you're looking elsewhere, you can easily miss what's in front of you and come up short on a slowing car. Even off the track some people let up off the gas to slow down. The brake lights alert us when someone is slowing or stopping, we don't see them, and we're not paying attention to what's in front of us; an accident is going to happen.
Chrissie Bennett said:
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:00 AMWow Pearl and the others really need to open their eyes. So according to them if you are going onto pit road and someone hits you it's your fault for going onto pit road. Oh and pearl it's not really necissary to call people names that is really immature.
anonymous said:
Jul 1, 2008 at 10:18 AMLeave it to Pearl to once again talk out of both sides of her mouth. She always claims to cheer for "all drivers" and just last week she posted about how she never calls drivers names, according to her it's so girlish and like elementary school children. Then she turns around and calls Jr. "Golden Boy". She also said she was going to start posting where "adults are". Guess you landed on the wrong posting again. Say what you like Pearl, you are anti-Junior and your comments week after week on articles that have to mention Jr show that.
linda smythers said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 8:27 PMi watched the race and it was most certainly mcmurrays fault. watch what is going on around you..
linda smythers said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 8:28 PMoh yea and spaceman can get on out in space where he belongs.. and take pearl with him
emily bagwell said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:04 PMAmen, Linda. The Spotter does not drive the car. Boy, and critics say Junior Nation is a bunch of insane people. Listening to some of this garbage is enough to make you insane. The driver himself has admitted his mistake, and if you look at the clip, there is no doubt that Junior got RUN OVER!!! Thank you, Chrissie, for pointing out what a two face Pearl is---also Anonymous. Looks like you're not fooling anyone,Pearl, about not being a Junior hater. You obviouly only know two drivers on the track--Junior and Shrub---so I doubt that you know anything about Jamie. 4da88, I'm with you, I knew Junior would be blamed.
4da88 said:
Jul 16, 2008 at 8:20 AMBTW for all those that praised Jamie for taking the blame; he later complained that Jr did not stick his hand out the window to let him know he was leaving the track. I find this amusing since he admitted he was looking the other direction and did not see Jr in the first place.
Marie Edwards said:
Jul 21, 2008 at 7:52 PM4da88, That is an interesting comment you go there. I did not know that part of it. Although I didn't know it was required for the drivers to use "hand signals" when driving, seems a bit dangerous with those 80-100+ speeds. If Jamie wasn't looking, what good would it have done? Just a thought (from an over-thinking person, lol)
Marie Edwards said:
Jul 21, 2008 at 7:54 PMMeant "you got there", sorry. Wasn't looking at the keyboard, but then again the keyboard should have known what I wanted to type. LOL.