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VIDEO: Earnhardt Jr. Loses Car In Practice Accident
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex crash approaching slower traffic in 500 practice…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted February 16, 2011   Daytona Beach, FL
VIDEO: Dale Jr. crashes A practice session wreck for Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Image: SPEED)
The uncertain nature of the new draft at Daytona International Speedway was illustrated dramatically in practice Wednesday as Daytona 500 pole winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed in an afternoon practice session.

Earnhardt Jr. was drafting behind teammate Jimmie Johnson in turn four when Johnson’s car appeared to lose traction. Earnhardt Jr. slowed in front of the following car of Martin Truex Jr., and both Junior and Truex slid off the track.

Junior’s car hit the inside wall and received significant damage. It hit Truex’s car after bouncing off the wall, causing damage to the right front of No. 56 Toyota.

Both Earnhardt Jr. and Truex will go to backup cars for the 500, and Earnhardt Jr. thus will lose the advantage of winning the pole.

“I really don’t know what was going on there,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “There were guys on the inside who looked like they were going to stay low, but they started creeping up. Jimmie lifted and I got off the gas and guys were coming behind me. We ran up on some guys who didn’t have their heads on straight.”

The very quick closing rate at which a trailing two-car draft catches other traffic has been a concern here since last week, and rules changes made this week don’t appear to have significantly impacted that.

Earnhardt Jr. said he isn’t concerned about moving to a new car for the 500.

“We’ve got plenty of race cars,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I ain’t worried about how fast we’ll be or whether we’ll be as good. We’ll be fine. It never feels good tearing them up.”

The practice session started at about 3 p.m. after morning rain had delayed a series of scheduled practices.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s wreck in the rain-delayed practice session Wednesday means he will start last in both the Gatorade Duel and the Daytona 500.

















Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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