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“They’re a Bunch of Morons”—Dale Earnhardt Jr Baffled by His Employee’s Texas Hipocrisy Despite “Entertaining” Issue
“They’re a Bunch of Morons”—Dale Earnhardt Jr Baffled by His Employee’s Texas Hipocrisy Despite “Entertaining” Issue
This weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway delivered much-needed action after two weeks of rather lackluster racing. The absolute carnage in the Cup and Xfinity series races didn’t just bring relief to fans hoping for better racing; it also proved to be a golden moment for Chase Elliott, who won his first race since the 2022 season. That said, not every entity in NASCAR believed that racing this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway showed signs of returning to its glorious past.
On Dirty Mo Media’s Door Bumper Clear, the hosts proved tough critics of racing in Texas, pointing out room for improvement even with all the chaos and carnage that ensued. Despite fans acknowledging that this weekend offered a glimpse into NASCAR’s glory days, the DBC crew felt that the racing could’ve been better and drivers could have been more aggressive. However, the boss at Dirty Mo Media wasn’t having any of his employees’ controversial takes.
Dale Earnhardt Jr jumps to Ryan Sieg’s defense with his witty sarcasm
As NASCAR headed toward sunny Texas, expectations were sky-high owing to building pressure from insiders and veterans over NASCAR and SMI’s management decisions. But like every time the action seems to die down this season, it picks back up in higher gear just as quickly. And as Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 came to an end, Sam Mayer’s historic win over Ryan Sieg by.002 seconds showed signs of just that. Unlike Atlanta, there were no late cautions or overtimes that played into the photo finish, showcasing how great racing truly was this weekend.
However, it wasn’t enough to please the Door Bumper Clear crew, who felt Ryan Sieg could have been more aggressive in his defense against Dale Earnhardt Jr’s rising star toward the end. This seems to have rubbed the JR Motorsports/Dirty Mo Media boss the wrong way. Going over DBC’s comments about the Texas Xfinity and Cup races, he shared on the Dale Jr Download, “They (DBC) also said that the race was entertaining, but it wasn’t a ‘good’ race; what the hell does that even mean?”
Throughout the last two laps, Ryan Sieg had his all and, in many’s eyes, was the more aggressive driver of the two as he pushed and shoved to retake the lead from Mayer on the inside. Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr was confused by the contradicting comments coming out of the DBC studio. He stated, “It was entertaining but it wasn’t good? That’s an oxymoron, right? Which makes sense cuz they’re a bunch of morons.”
The JR Motorsports owner highlighted the #39 Ford driver’s aggression and couldn’t help but channel his frustration into sarcasm. Junior added, “Sieg wasn’t aggressive enough, as they’re grinding against the fence into the fu***n flag stand? The finish wasn’t close enough? Smoke, fire, tires torn up, cars torn up, could’ve been better, could’ve been more aggressive. The guy gets out, and says, ‘I ran him into the wall’. That’s not aggressive enough? You’ve gotta turn them upside down, Sieg, everybody knows that.”
Though Junior clearly didn’t side with the Door Bumper Clear crew on the racing at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, he wasn’t one to outright deny that there was a little room for improvement.
What’s keeping Texas from becoming ‘great again’?
For many, the race at Texas marked the redemption of Chase Elliott, but did it also mean the same for one of NASCAR’s most beloved tracks? Dale Earnhardt Junior is certainly optimistic about good things to come. Over the past few seasons, Texas has gained notoriety amongst fans for some lackluster racing, but it seems like the resurfacing of the track could turn the tides back in its favor.
Going over the redemption arc that Texas Motor Speedway seems to be embarking on, Junior shared his delight with how the new surface has helped. He stated, “Texas has been beat up by me, by everybody, right? The fans. Texas has been going through a little rough patch, and that’s an understatement. Texas is good again. I think it’s good again and it’s just gonna continue to get better…(…)…but one of the things that I saw that made me very happy was how gray the surface was, meaning that the surface is aged and slick, abrasive.”
The veteran highlighted the rubber laid down on the track as a good sign of the track holding its grip, but this is also where an area of improvement presented itself. Junior revealed, “Where the left side tire runs, no rubber is going down. That’s a problem, something Goodyear needs to work on. I would love to see that left-side tire putting rubber down just like the right-side is.”
Junior felt that the tire manufacturer needed to help produce a tire package that suited Texas’ surface better. He added, “If you watched the race and watched the cars go through the corner, the track is rubbering in but where the lefts run, probably the bottom three foot or four foot of the race track, is still clean. There’s no rubber being put down; the left-side tire is too hard. So there are some things to learn there and improvements that can be made.”
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‘It won’t last forever’ – Max Verstappen warned about Red Bull downfall with Lewis Hamilton
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has warned that, while Max Verstappen is the current dominant force in Formula 1, “all good things come to an end.”
Verstappen has won 21 of the last 23 races and has broken the record for number of victories in a calendar year in each of the last two seasons, with 15 in 2022 and 19 last season, and has already taken to the top step four times out of five in 2024.
Max Verstappen dominance warning: ‘It won’t last forever’
Formula 1 can often be characterised by eras of driver and team dominance in the sport, with the likes of McLaren and Williams holding the sport under their control in the 1980s and ’90s, before Ferrari and Michael Schumacher were the outright force in the early 2000s, and Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel won four title doubles in a row before Mercedes took charge in the turbo hybrid era.
The switch to ground effect aerodynamics has seen Red Bull surge to the top once again, particularly in Verstappen’s hands, which has left 2021 title rival and seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton without a race win in 50 rounds.
Steiner made this point in comparing Verstappen’s success to Hamilton’s current barren run by his standards, but is also wary of the fact that these eras have a habit of ending abruptly.
“Red Bull and Max Verstappen are obviously doing a fantastic job right now. They are dominating,” Steiner wrote in a pre-Miami column for Formula1.com.
“I really respect Sergio Perez, he’s a very good driver – but he can’t get near Max right now. Max is on a different planet.
“He is already one of the greatest ever in his era, like Lewis Hamilton was a few years ago.
“When you’re on a wave like this, you have the confidence, you’re happy with life and nothing goes wrong.
“But all good things come to an end. It won’t last forever – just look at Lewis right now.
“It’s no surprise Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is interested in signing Max. Will Max leave Red Bull? He is in a good place.”
The next regulation reset in Formula 1 is coming in 2026, with the proposed power units bringing about a change in power to make the cars a 50/50 split between combustion and electric power in the hybrid engines, along with a switch to sustainable fuel.
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Alex Bowman’s angry radio exchange that caused trouble with Kyle Larson at Dover decoded by Corey
Alex Bowman’s angry radio exchange that caused trouble with Kyle Larson at Dover decoded by Corey
Alex Bowman had a decent day in Dover with a top-10 finish. But it didn’t come without some drama as Bowman and his spotter, Kevin Hamlin, exchanged some fiery words at one point in the race. Talking about this exchange between Bowman and his spotter, as well as the preceding incident between Bowman and Kyle Larson, Corey LaJoie took a shot at decoding the whole situation.
Speaking on his podcast Stacking Pennies, LaJoie discussed what happened between the two Hendrick drivers and the subsequent radio exchange between Bowman and his spotter.
“There was a little bit of beef apparently between the #48 and the #5. The #48 was having a good run up there in top 5,” LaJoie said.
The exchange, in the eyes of Ryan ‘Skip’ Flores, the co-host of Stacking Pennies, was simply Bowman being honest with the whole situation.
“He was mad at the #5 car air blocking him. The #5 was running for the stage win I believe. He’s mad at the #5 air blocking and he’s ‘expletive’ about it and (Kevin) Hamlin says go up there and pass him, he’s not gonna give it to you. And then he tried to pep talk him and Alex told him shove it,” Flores said.
In the end, LaJoie wrapped it up by claiming that what happened between Bowman and Larson and Bowman and his spotter was simply part of racing.
“Hey, it’s a very high-pressure situation. You feel like you’re in there riding around. You’d think your teammate of all people would air block you less, but hey, it’s racing man,” LaJoie said.
Speaking after the race, Alex Bowman was asked about his radio exchange with spotter Kevin Hamlin. During the race, Bowman made a sly remark on Larson, after which he received an earful from his spotter.
“He’s not gonna pull over for you. You’ve gotta go ‘expletive’ earn it, let’s go. #5 elbows up, let’s go. Dudes are gonna give you ‘expletive’ all day, you’ve just taken, you’ve done awesome, drive like an
‘expletive’ the rest of the race, stay locked in, *expletive* them all let’s
go,” Kevin Hamlin told his driver. [00:12]
In response, Bowman asked his spotter to just let him focus on the race. After the race, when asked about his exchange with Kevin, Alex Bowman simply refused to elaborate on it.
“No. I don’t have any clickbait for you there, buddy,” he said (via Frontstretch).
As for his race result, Bowman opined that it wasn’t “the greatest” but they’ll move on to the next one.
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NASCAR Issues: Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are at again
Though Hendrick Motorsports couldn’t figure out a way to win in Dover on Sunday, it had a remarkable race day. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott both finished inside the top-5 after starting from outside the top-20. At the end of the 400 laps on the Monster Mile, Larson retained his lead at the top of the points table and Elliott sat third.
The race began for Larson from 21st place in the #5 Chevrolet Camaro. Refusing to idle around, he found his way into the top 10 as early as Lap 53. He broke into the top 5 on Lap 107 and finished Stage 1 in 5th place. Crew Chief Cliff Daniels made the call to bring Larson to the pit ahead of most others and kickstarted a play that worked out splendidly.
Larson ended up winning Stage 2. From there, a long cat and mouse game went down between him and Denny Hamlin. Courtesy of quicker pit stops, better restarts, and the aero-block advantage, Hamlin managed to pull ahead and stay there. “I was trying all sorts of different angles and speeds. Nothing could generate enough speed to get close enough to do anything,” Larson said after the race.
Ultimately, he finished as the runner-up, a mere 0.256 seconds behind Hamlin. The result was his second runner-up finish of the year. He led 39 laps throughout the race bringing his 2024 total to 570, highest in the grid. Putting up an almost equal caliber of performance from behind the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro was Chase Elliott.
The 2020 Cup Series champion started his campaign from further behind Larson, in 29th place. He cut open the top-10 on Lap 70 and finished Stage 1 in 9th place. Despite having an early scare when his car hit the wall, the run continued as he maintained a top-10 spot throughout Stage 2. He finished the stage in 5th place after passing Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch, the same spot in which he finished his race.
How did William Byron and Alex Bowman fare in Dover?
Byron started his race in 3rd place. After leading for a brief while in Stage 1, he finished in 2nd place. Midway through Stage 2, he complained of feeling “a little too tight center of (turns) three and four.” Subsequently, he was pitted on Lap 183. Tragedy struck as his car fell off the jack before the stop was complete and he lost significant time on the road.
In the final stage, he got caught in a multi-car incident involving Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, and Zane Smith. The chaos ended his day and he finished in 33rd place. The result ended his five-race top-10 streak. Alex Bowman had a better day than Byron. He started the race from 9th position and finished 8th. He displayed strong speed midway through the race but the balance on his car began taking a hit towards race end.
“It was still a good points day and a step in the right direction,” he said after his fourth straight top-10 finish in Dover. “It’s a little more consistent than we’ve seen, so hopefully we can keep plugging away at it.” The next event on the schedule for Rick Hendrick’s men is at the Kansas Speedway. The 12th race of the ongoing season will go down on May 5.
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‘It won’t last forever’ – Max Verstappen warned about Red Bull downfall with Lewis Hamilton
Alex Bowman’s angry radio exchange that caused trouble with Kyle Larson at Dover decoded by Corey
