Jimmie Johnson “Racing With One Arm Tied Behind His Back,” Claims Dale Jr as He Trashes Chase Elliott

If you look at Jimmie Johnson‘s record so far in the races this year, you would not really see a 7-time Cup Series champion. J.J. finished P28 at Daytona and P29 at Texas. But is that his fault? No doubt, Legacy Motor Club has had trouble being competitive, and Dale Earnhardt Jr believes that with the right machinery, Jimmie Johnson can be quite competitive. Junior also spoke about the difficulty of having short practice sessions, contradicting Chase Elliott‘s words from a few days ago.

Dale Earnhardt Jr blames the car for Jimmie Johnson’s misery
The Hendrick Motorsports driver won the race at the Texas Motor Speedway, so Dale Earnhardt Jr is more inclined to take his word for it as he is the one doing the racing on the track. As far as Jimmie Johnson is concerned, his former teammate wants him to be a lot more competitive than he has been of late. Given the 7-time Cup Series champion’s age, perhaps it is not possible for him anymore to challenge for wins, but competing against drivers in the top 10 or 15 could be achievable if he had a better car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr exclaimed, “He’s (Elliott) the driver that’s just won the race this past weekend…if he tells me that this is the way it is and this is good, I’m gonna probably take his word for it cause he is the one out there doing it. I am sitting at home watching from a distance and like I say all the time, we got a lot of opinions on here and we sometimes get it right and sometimes get it wrong. Maybe I am wrong about this one.

“Maybe I am wrong about practice. I just know that I’d love to see Jimmie run better and if he thinks practice will help, I’d love to give him more practice cause I wanna see Jimmie Johnson be competitive. I feel like he is racing with one arm tied behind his back,” Dale Earnhardt Jr said on a recent episode of his podcast.

Maybe the practice session also played a part in Johnson not being able to compete too well. According to Dale Earnhardt Jr, the practice sessions in the NASCAR Cup Series are quite short and it leaves drivers no time to process the data and formulate how they can improve the car’s performance.

Chase Elliott does not agree with that, as he had said earlier that the shorter practice sessions were good enough for him. Perhaps shorter sessions are more advantageous for teams like Hendrick Motorsports that have many things already figured out than some of the smaller teams, like Legacy Motor Club. Dale Earnhardt Jr spoke about his experience with a short practice session in the fall Xfinity Series race at Bristol last year, where he finished P30, and it was just barely enough.

“Yes, more practice. I would love more practice. When I went to Bristol last year, was it enough? Yes. But it was barely enough. Right at the end of that practice, I started to feel like I was sort of gaining on it and everything happens so fast, Practice, 20 minutes, Qualifying, and you’re like…you’re just spun out. There’s no time to download and think and process and change what you are doing to make adjustments and improve but anyhow, Chase thinks it’s fine,” the NASCAR veteran added.

Whose side are you on in this debate? Are shorter practice sessions better, or should the drivers be afforded longer practice sessions to get their cars as fine-tuned as possible? Let us know what you think.

It’s because he’s a part-time driver so i will never take that: Chase Elliott refuses Jimmie Johnson’s request

Currently, NASCAR races provide 20 minutes of practice time for Cup drivers before qualifying, except on certain weekends. Johnson is advocating for an increase in this time to 40-45 minutes, as he believes it will allow drivers to develop a better understanding of the car and enable their teams to make necessary adjustments. However, his former teammate Chase Elliott has a different opinion on the matter.

During a media interaction in Texas, Elliott expressed his belief that drivers already have enough practice time. He suggested that Johnson’s desire for additional practice stems from his limited race appearances this season, similar to other part-time drivers. Elliott hinted that Johnson does not have enough opportunities to familiarize himself with the car, leading to his request for more practice time.

Prior to the Cup race in Texas, Johnson revealed the reasons behind his struggles in the Cup series. He highlighted that the current cars no longer allow him to effectively use the right rear wheel, which was his characteristic racing style. Due to changes in aerodynamics and tires, Johnson now needs to rely on the right front wheel to steer.

Fortunately, Johnson’s new approach to driving Next-Gen cars has shown promising results. He achieved his best position since joining Legacy Motor Club and was able to complete the race on the lead lap for the first time in this era. Johnson hopes to maintain this positive momentum and potentially convince NASCAR to implement changes that provide part-time drivers with more practice time.

Tragedy: Dale Earnhardt Jr Almost Sawing Off His Hand in a Horrific Chainsaw Accident

For many NASCAR fans, Dale Earnhardt Jr serves as a link to the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr. Of course, Junior is his own person and has established his own legacy in the sport. He does have plenty of stories about his father, which he has happily shared with many of his fans. However, the ‘Intimidator’ persona on the race track is very well-known to all, and now the son shows his fans another bold side.

Without a doubt, Dale Earnhardt Jr knew all the best stories, and fans were thoroughly entertained. In a recent podcast episode, he narrated another story from the vast recesses of his memory. This one had to do with his father and his utter disregard for his own body when trying to help others. One thing was for sure: the late great Dale Earnhardt was always ready to help someone in need.

Dale Jr said on his podcast, “I was probably 6 or 7 years old, I just moved in with him. 1981-82. Long long time ago. There was a guy that was going to build a deck on the back of his lake house. Dad told the guy he would come over there and saw this tree down, that was in the way of this deck. On a Wednesday, between races, he goes to this guy’s house. I don’t know why he took me, but he’s like, ‘Do you want to come along?’ I’m like, ‘Sure!’. I get out of the truck and he gets his saw, chainsaw. I’m standing on the backyard, looking up at this tree.”

Dale Jr continued, “He climbs up this tree with the chainsaw and he’s sawing the limbs off. Going and going 15-20 minutes and he saws the tree in parts, right as he’s coming down. He’s been up there 25-30 minutes, finally comes down. Comes down, and his glove, he’s got these tan leather old school gloves—you remember the original outdoor – I don’t even remember if they make them like that anymore. His glove was ripped, from knuckle to knuckle, across the back of his hand.”

“He pulled his glove off and his hand was wide open. Serrated from knuckle to knuckle, bad! My eyes were gigantic! I’m a kid, right? He’s just looking at it. I thought that had just happened. The chainsaw laid on his hand, and he had just come down. I was like, ‘When did that happen?’. He was like, ‘Soon as I got up there’.”

In essence, Dale Sr often played the good Samaritan and helped out his neighbors. Obviously, this all took place during the weekdays, because he is otherwise indisposed during the weekends. To be frank, this would probably instill a sense of normalcy and some humility in the 7-time Cup Series champion. In other words, Dale Sr would like to be perceived as approachable and an ordinary person, away from the race track.