Dale Jr. - Beatin' and Bangin' at Infineon Leads to Early Exit


In the 38th lap Dale Earnhardt Jr. found himself out of Sunday's Toyota Save Mart 350. He was involved in a multi-car wreck on turn 11. The result for the No. 88 car was damage to the radiator. When asked what had happened out there, he responded by saying,

“We had made the car better during that first stop. They had a big ole mess getting into turn 11 and we jumped in there and got part of it and banged up the nose a little bit so I think the engine is done. It has a hole in the side of it so that usually isn't good. I ran it a couple of laps and the temp was fine on the water so we thought that maybe it was just a pinhole in the radiator and maybe we could just run around 10-20 laps and just fill it back up with qualifying cycle machine that we use to push water through the motors on qualifying day. But the motor didn't like it and it knocked the side out the motor, so it's done.”

As for the beating and banging and the use of the "chrome horn" in the opening laps of the race, Earnhardt Jr. said, "I was seein’ beatin’ and bangin’ but that is just the way the road courses are. This place ... it is the way these races here have been for awhile. You know what you sign up for when you show up on Friday. You kinda want to get up in the middle of it ya know. You want to get in the middle of it and have fun. Everybody is bangin' around but your car can’t survive it. They just spun out in front of me in turn 11 and I just kinda ran into somebody with the front of my car. But the beatin' and bangin’ was kinda fun.”

Is he a fan of the California road course? Dale Jr. said he's never been a fan of the track, but that maybe some day that could change. He went on to say, "We weren’t the worst car. There are some guys out there that have some real good speed. It should be interesting how this race plays out.”

As the series heads back to Daytona next weekend, Dale Jr. was asked his thoughts and whether or not he was looking forward to the race. He responded, "I'm not looking forward to going to Daytona at all, not with the way the drafting is there. But we'll just have to see if we can get lucky out there. What is after Daytona? Will be glad to go there. New Hampshire? I love that place."

Dale Jr. finished Sunday's race in the 41st position and fell to seventh in the points, down four spots in the Championship standings.
Dale Jr. - Beatin' and Bangin' at Infineon Leads to Early Exit Dale Jr. - Beatin' and Bangin' at Infineon Leads to Early Exit Reviewed by Lindi Bess on Monday, June 27, 2011 Rating: 5