Earnhardt: ‘Boys’ will still have it

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C.

Typically, Dale Earnhardt Jr. tries to avoid the sort of fracas that cost Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick each $25,000 and a five-week stint on probation.

Then again, Earnhardt admitted, if he had been a front-runner over the past few years, he might have been a more frequent participant in the sort of postrace pit-road altercation that lightened the wallets of his fellow drivers.

“I’ve got a racecar to drive, man,” Earnhardt said. “If I was as competitive as those guys have been the last several years, I’d definitely be a lot more aggressive about it.”

Harvick and Busch are both on probation for all NASCAR events through June 15 for compromising the safety of pit road. After the race, in which Harvick bumped Busch, and Busch retaliated by spinning Harvick during a wreck that also collected Clint Bowyer, Harvick stopped his car and blocked Busch’s access to the garage area.

Harvick climbed from his car and attempted to punch Busch through his driver’s window, but Busch avoided the punch by pushing Harvick’s unattended car out of the way. Harvick’s Chevy rolled slowly away and collided with the inside wall. NASCAR cited the safety issue as its justification for the penalties, but Earnhardt doesn’t think the probation will alter the way the drivers compete on the track.

“Probation doesn’t change the way you drive, because you’re still going to drive hard, and you’re still going to race as hard as you can,” Earnhardt said. “It’s obvious when things are intentional and things aren’t. But if they go out of the box and do things that are detrimental, then I think the probation becomes a problem.”