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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
SPENCER: The Dale Jr. Rule
On Sunday night in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, we witnessed the “Dale Jr.” rule in full effect...
Jimmy Spencer  |  Posted February 18, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)

We witnessed the “Dale Jr.” rule in full effect Sunday night in the Daytona 500.

Once again, NASCAR demonstrated how much difficulty they have being consistent in their rulings, especially when it comes to the sport’s most popular driver. It is NASCAR’s responsibility to make the correct calls and issue appropriate penalties regarding on-track incidents, but they missed the mark at Daytona.

We’ve all seen dozens of times the replay of Dale Earnhardt Jr. getting into the rear of Brian Vickers’ car and sending him back up the track and into the middle of the field. That was a huge mistake on Earnhardt’s part, intentional or not, because he only needed to roll out of the throttle and get back in line, as we’ve seen drivers correctly do many times. But Dale Jr. made the excuse he was driven down to the infield grass; however, there were another 10 feet between him and the grass and all he had to do was lift but he didn’t. Jr. was not out of control when he hit the 83 car.

However, likely the result of his mounting frustration over his performance and pit road mishaps, Jr. took matters into his own hands and turned Vickers back up the track. If he had only wrecked Vickers or one other car, his action would have been easier to accept. But Jr. took out 10 cars, including the dominant machine of Kyle Busch. That is inexcusable – I don’t care how bad a day he’d had or how upset he was with anyone.

On Saturday in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, NASCAR slapped Jason Leffler with a five-lap penalty for what they interpreted was his intentional wrecking of Steve Wallace. But a mere 24 hours later, Dale Jr. got away with a very similar move. Not only did NASCAR fail to penalize Jr., they didn’t even address the matter. If NASCAR parks a guy for five laps in a Nationwide race, they certainly should have done the same in the most important race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.

I’m not saying Jr. intended to wreck Vickers in front of the entire field. I do, however, think Jr. planned to move Vickers, show him he was there and maybe spin him a bit, assuming Vickers would end up in the infield grass and not the line of traffic. But that plan backfired on Jr. Actually, it really didn’t backfire on him because he got away with it.

Dale Jr. undeniably is the most popular driver in NASCAR but many people take his status too far and think he walks on water and is untouchable. And as expected, Junior Nation has vehemently defended their driver throughout this controversy. However, there were 42 other competitors out there with just as much fire in their bellies, trying just as hard to win the Daytona 500. It’s a shame that the fact Dale Jr. is such an icon heavily plays into NASCAR’s decisions on whether or not to penalize him.

The same rules should apply to everyone whether they’re Dale Jr. or Jason Leffler. Many more moves like that one will start to cost Dale Jr. some fans and if he loses enough of his fan base, he’ll lose some of his punch with the sanctioning body. I loved Dale Jr.’s father and have nothing against his son. But while what Dale Jr. did at Daytona was wrong, what NASCAR neglected to do was even worse.

We don’t need to rewrite the NASCAR rule book to create consistency in these areas but we do need more uniformity. NASCAR says it decides every matter on a case-by-case basis but the offending party’s car number and name should have no bearing on that case, as it did at Daytona. The only appropriate call was a penalty. Instead we got a no-call.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it as an analyst on NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED. He retired from driving with two NASCAR Sprint Cup, 12 NASCAR Nationwide and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, putting him in an elite group of drivers who have logged wins in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions. In 478 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Spencer amassed 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. He won back-to-back NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships in 1986 and 1987 on the heels of 15 victories, becoming the first driver ever to earn consecutive titles in the series. He earned the nickname “Mr. Excitement” for his flamboyant and aggressive driving style early in his racing career.
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