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“It Was Illegal” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Makes Incriminating Admission as He Recalls 12-Hendrick Motorsports Stopping Him From “Cheating”
“It Was Illegal” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Makes Incriminating Admission as He Recalls 12-Hendrick Motorsports Stopping Him From “Cheating”
NASCAR cars have changed from time to time. With 7th-generation or Next-Gen cars dominating the current scenario, the evolution of stock-car racing has pushed it far ahead. NASCAR legend and two-time Xfinity champ Dale Earnhardt Jr has experienced the best of both worlds. With a career spanning almost two decades, he has found himself in many situations.
While the Next-Gen cars have failed to impress the drivers, with almost every other race pointing out a new problem in the car, dissatisfaction with their cars also existed among the drivers in the previous generation. Joining Kenny Wallace on the popular talk show, The Kenny Conversation, Dale Earnhardt Jr reveals a surprising turn of events that could have been considered illegal back then.
Dale Jr decided to tweak his car illegally, along with Tony Eurys
In a stock car, the first skeletal component is the structural frame. It comprises round and square steel tubes of different thicknesses welded into each other to form an outline for the car’s components to hold. Most of the frame structure is for the driver’s protection during crashes. The frontal and rear sections are called the front and rear clips. These clips are built from thinner steel tubing to crush in an accident and push the engine out of the car’s bottom instead of moving it toward the driver in an accident.
However, NASCAR has also set a fixed guideline for adulterating materials and how much a car can be modified. Dale Earnhardt Jr reveals the story of the one time when he could have fallen in trouble over the same aspect of racing. Junior said to a captivated Wallace, “I went to Martinsville and ran into everything. I ran into the wall and into the tow truck behind the wall. I ran everything, right?”
“We hit everything and the tow truck. I had a rough day, so Tony Jr and Tony Sr, we took our car up there to go test, and when we didn’t run good, Tony Sr and Tony Jr, they took you to work. So we go up there to test. This was new to me back in the day, but more than likely, everybody had it. Tony Jr took a piece of tungsten and shaped it like the spring perch on the trailing arm.“
Trailing arms are another important facet of the frame. Most importantly, they are the connecting link between the chassis and the rear axle. Due to this, trailing arms need to be strong and durable. It also supports the car’s weight and gives a base for the compression force to spread that arises between the rear wheels and the chassis.
Dale Earnhardt Jr Makes Incriminating Admission as He Recalls 12-Hendrick Motorsports Stopping Him From “Cheating”
Tungsten is known for making some of the world’s most durable compounds. A hard, stable element with a high melting point is the perfect addition to a car’s frame; that is how Junior felt about the tweak. Explaining more about the modification, the 49-year-old said, “So, the left rear trailing arm spring perch was made out of tungsten.”
“So it was like this unsprung weight that would plant the left rear tire on the ground at all times. We put tungsten in lower A-frames for the left front, trying to figure out how to make this car work. We ended up learning that putting that tungsten on the trailing arm back there at the rear axle was the way to go. We just had to disguise it to look like part of the car so that we didn’t get in trouble because it was illegal.”
NASCAR has been against the adulteration of specific base components of the stock car for a long time, and the trailing arms were surely one of them.
Hendrick Motorsports prevented a potential penalty for Dale Earnhardt Jr
The partnership between Junior and Rick Hendrick showcased a fruitful period in the latter years of Dale Jr’s career. While they could not land a championship despite being a match made in heaven, there were many other reasons why Hendrick Motorsports had Junior covered. The team’s involvement in preventing this illegal addition was one of them.
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Speaking about the results that followed their minor but huge change, Dale Jr revealed, “Man, we went there and ran in the top 5, like 6-7 races in a row. It was awesome.”
While it was prohibited, NASCAR needed to know something was wrong to point it out. Tony Eury Jr’s disguise of the tungsten arm needed a revelation from Junior for the HMS staff to know about it. Opening up on the incident, he stated, “Every time I went over to Hendrick, they are great at Martinsville; they win a lot of races.”
“We’d go there, and I’m practicing in the top 5, and I’m like, man, this thing’s good. I just wonder if we can get a little better. Y’all ever put any tungsten? They’re looking at me like, What? We don’t need that, you know.”
Throwing a sarcastic comment over the issue, Junior then added, “I didn’t mind doing a little cheating. I always wanted some advantage over the competition, and that was the easiest way to get it.”
Rick Hendrick and Co. saved Dale Earnhardt Jr from a potential suspension or a worrisome penalty. Over the years, many instances of drivers allowing illegal modifications have been noted. It is safe to say that HMS prevented a disaster for themselves and Junior.
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A former Ferrari engineer has criticised the decision to bring in Lewis Hamilton and thinks the Brit’s presence will mean “a lot of potential for drama”.
At the age of 40, seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton will form a formidable driver partnership with Charles Leclerc. His big switch comes at the expense of Carlos Sainz, who has performed well for the Italian squad but who was axed so they had room for their blockbuster new signing.
But not everyone of a Ferrari persuasion is convinced that it will go well. Ernest Knoors, who spent many years as an engineer at Maranello, specialising in power units, worries that Hamilton’s presence could do more harm than good for a team that is finding its groove under Frederic Vasseur.
“A big name like Hamilton also brings a lot of politics and if politics within Ferrari are not managed well, then there is a lot of potential for drama,” he told Formule1.nl. “Hamilton has the tendency that if things do not work out, he turns his whole car upside down and starts experimenting.
“Ferrari believes very much in the big personalities and will follow him. But Hamilton is just someone you have to guide a little bit and not give the freedom to rebuild the whole car, because then it will go completely wrong. So I do not know if it is such a smart move, but of course it is nice for the sport.”
News of Hamilton’s planned move broke on February 1, coinciding with football’s Transfer Deadline Day. That the back pages of many newspapers were dominated by the decision of Hamilton to swap Mercedes for Ferrari was testament to the magnitude of the announcement.
Sainz was not surprised as he had been informed by his team of the plan ahead of it being made public. But the Spaniard responded well with two victories to date this season and five further appearances on the podium, on the way to what looks likely to be a fifth-placed finish in the championship – two spots and 54 points ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz has signed for Williams next year and, after several years of running at the front of the grid, will focus on his new challenge of helping restore one of the grid’s most historic teams to its former glory. But Knoors believes he should have been kept on by Ferrari instead.
The Dutchman added: “I see Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari more as a PR move. With all due respect, Hamilton is not going to take that Ferrari from P6 to P1. He will get the most out of it, but what Ferrari has to do is make that car faster. And if you make that car faster, you can easily drive at the front with the current line-up.
“Besides, as a team you have to look further on the horizon. If Hamilton becomes champion in the coming years, he and Ferrari will become immortal. But if you want to build a team with talent for the next five years, are you going to build on Hamilton? No, because he will really be finished after two or three years. That is why I would have kept the very strong line-up that Ferrari has now.”
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Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for one of NASCAR’s most bizarre moments of the 2024 Cup Series season. At the start of Stage 2, the pace car dove onto pit road in front of Elliott; however, it was a tad too late. The pace car made contact with the sand barrels at the entry of pit road and caused a red flag for cleanup.
Initially, there was some speculation on the NBC Sports broadcast, even from the No. 9 team, that Elliott made contact with the pace car. Fortunately, the pace car didn’t slide across the No. 9 car’s nose, but it undoubtedly provided one of NASCAR’s craziest red flag moments in recent memory.
Below, you can listen to Elliott and the No. 9 team react to the pace car crashing into the sand barrels on pit road at Phoenix during Championship Weekend!
Reflecting on the recent retirement of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt didn’t mince words about the toll NASCAR takes on its drivers. Speaking candidly, the two-time Daytona 500 winner admitted that the pressure to perform every week left him feeling miserable for most of his racing career—a sentiment he believes is shared by many of his peers.
“Right or wrong, racing made me a miserable person 90% of the time,” Earnhardt confessed. “And him too. I mean, ask Kyle Busch, ask anybody—unless you’re winning, you’re not happy.”
For these elite drivers, the sport is a relentless grind. A podium finish might bring temporary relief, but anything short of victory is often a source of frustration. The immense effort poured into preparation and execution rarely feels like it pays off unless the checkered flag is theirs.
Earnhardt highlighted the mental toll of falling short, explaining how the relentless focus on winning can overshadow the joy of simply competing. Even a solid performance feels hollow compared to the euphoria of a win.
“Unless you’re winning, you’re not happy at all,” he said. “You’re okay with a good run, but for the most part, all the effort it takes just to run good—it doesn’t weigh out.”
For drivers, the stakes are sky-high every week. Sponsors, fans, and teams demand nothing less than excellence, leaving little room for error or personal satisfaction in anything less than a dominant performance.
Earnhardt also shared insights into his friendship with Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced his retirement. While the two often spend time hunting together during NASCAR’s off-season, Earnhardt noted that the stress of racing even creeps into their leisure activities.
“When I’m with him during hunting season, it’s always in the back of his mind,” Earnhardt said. “It’s that stressful part of the year when he’s as miserable as he’s going to be.”
Now, with Truex stepping away from the track, Earnhardt looks forward to seeing a lighter, happier version of his long-time friend. Without the weight of weekly competition hanging over him, Truex might finally be able to relax and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle he cherishes.
“It’ll be fun to see him loosen up,” Earnhardt added.
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