“I Don’t Have A Problem” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. On The Controversial Finish At The Brickyard 400

Any NASCAR fans out there still upset with how the Brickyard 400 finished up? NASCAR returned to the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past weekend, which marked the first time since 2020 that the 2.5 mile oval track was used instead of the road course that has been used in Indy in the previous few years. And the driver of the number five car, Kyle Larson, managed to score his first ever win at the Brickyard 400. However, there was a lot of controversy with how the race finished. During a restart with two laps to go, Larson lined up third, behind leader Brad Keselowski and with Ryan Blaney on the outside of the front row. And as the leaders were coming to the green flag, Keselowski ran out of fuel and made a bee-line to pit road, allowing Larson to move up to the front row - much to the chagrin of Blaney. Many voiced that Larson jumping the restart was unfair, since he was supposed to wait for Blaney before taking off since he was technically the third place car coming to the green flag. But Larson managed to take the lead from Blaney and was in first place when another caution flag flew, and Larson eventually was crowned the winner. It was honestly a complicated, what-are-the-rules-here mess, as Dale Earnhardt Jr. pointed out on the most recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download : "There's a lot of debate about what should have happened in that moment. I honestly feel like it played out the way it should have. Brad Keselowski is not at fault. They were trying to stretch fuel, they knew they were probably beyond... It just so happened that they're coming to green flag and he decides to pit. Something about whatever's happening inside the car to Brad. That's no fault of Brad's for how that all played out. And per how the rules are written, Blaney is now the control car and we're going to have a green flag and I don't have a problem with this." If you are going by the rules, everything played out how it was supposed to. Everything just seemed a little off, because of the chaos of how things finished. NASCAR even came out and said that if they would have waived off the green, they still wouldn't allowed the drivers to choose preferred lanes, which pretty much puts to rest that argument. And as Dale Jr. explained, it wouldn't have been typical for NASCAR to intervene in that moment of the race: "I would have not had a problem had NASCAR waived off their start, but they usually just don't do that. If a car runs out of gas, or if Brad just runs out of gas and pulls to the side like he did entering pit road, that to me is not enough to waive off the start or get in the way of what's playing out with the green flag." Much like how football fans wouldn't want a close game to end with a ref throwing the penalty flag, NASCAR felt as though they shouldn't have waived off the start. And Dale Jr. had their backs on this one, and that's gotta mean something right? At the same time, the race ended on a caution after the white flag so... still kinda lame, right? You can hear more about the intricate situation that led to Larson winning the Brickyard 400 in the Dale Jr. Download podcast below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTp8AxSps_8