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Earnhardt Jr. says $20K barely impacts wallet
By Bob Pockrass
Saturday, August 26, 2006
BRISTOL, Tenn. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not critical of the $20,000 fine given to Carl Edwards for ramming him after the Busch Series race last week at Michigan, but he said a fine like that won't do much to dissuade a driver who is making millions.
"I felt like years ago we should have been stepping the fines up into the $100,000-$200,000 range," Earnhardt Jr. said Friday. "Nothing against Carl or the situation, but $10-, $15-, or $20-grand [penalties] don't mean anything to these guys, myself included."
Edwards also was put on probation for the incident, which occurred after Edwards, who was leading the race, was tapped by Earnhardt Jr. and then spun.
Earnhardt Jr. won the race. Afterward, Edwards slammed the side of his car into that of Earnhardt Jr. and also visited victory lane to talk to Earnhardt Jr.
NASCAR Vice President Robin Pemberton said that Earnhardt Jr.'s view of the fine "is a personal observation and he's welcome to it," and that it was a harsher penalty than had been handed down in the past.
Pemberton said NASCAR did consider "a lot of different scenarios" for penalties but decided against a point penalty.
"We have not taken points away for a penalty like that as of yet, and historically, I think, the fine has been quite a bit less than that, right around the $5,000 range," Pemberton said Friday. "He is on probation through the end of the year. We figured $20,000 has been a substantial increase over what has been done in the Busch Series in the past."
He said NASCAR was upset over both the ramming as well as Edwards' going into victory lane.
"It definitely was an unsafe situation, and furthermore, it was wrong that he went into victory lane to talk to him about it afterward," Pemberton said. "That was unnecessary."
Mentioned Drivers: Carl Edwards
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