So... Jr. wont start from Pole

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecked his pole-winning car in practice Wednesday and will have to start at the back of the pack for the Daytona 500. Earnhardt was pushing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in practice when Johnson had to slow down for slower-moving traffic in front of him. Earnhardt plowed into Johnson’s back bumper and turned him sideways. A second pack of cars led by Martin Truex Jr. closed quickly on Earnhardt’s bumper, causing the No. 88 Chevrolet to spin across the track and into the inside wall. Johnson said he had to slow down suddenly when a pack of three cars ahead of them on the track—driven by Robby Gordon, Michael Waltrip and David Gilliland—drifted high from the bottom of the track toward the top. “I was running out of space, and I thought that hole was going to close, and I lifted, and I got turned sideways from behind,” Johnson said. The accident was a function of the two-car drafting that has become the fastest way around Daytona International Speedway this year. Working together, two cars are so much faster than a single car or a larger pack that Earnhardt says other drivers have to watch the closing speed of the cars coming up behind them. “You’ve got to pay attention out there, man,” Earnhardt said. “You want to come out here and race, you’ve got to pay attention.” Hendrick Motorsports immediately pulled out a backup car for Earnhardt. He will have to forfeit the top starting spot in his qualifying race Thursday and Sunday’s season opener. It is the third car Earnhardt has used during Daytona Speedweeks. He also wrecked one in last weekend’s exhibition Budweiser Shootout. The team will repair the Shootout car, and it will become his backup car for Sunday. “We’ve got plenty of race cars,” Earnhardt said. “I ain’t worried about how fast we’ll be or whether we’ll be as good. We’ll be fine. But it never feels good tearing them up. I’m just disappointed in myself. I didn’t feel good about getting out there practicing, and didn’t think I needed to be out there practicing. I just had a bad feeling about it. We come running up on some guys that didn’t have their heads on straight and got into an accident.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-daytona-earnhardtwreck

Joonyer said: I didn’t... think I needed to be out there practicing.

I beg to differ, pal. It appears that practice is exactly what you needed. And exactly who didn't have their heads on straight? I bet NASCAR is furious at you for wasting the pole they gave you (unless this is some other shtick).

He was probably texting at the time.

Duke wrote:

Joonyer said: I didn’t... think I needed to be out there practicing.

I beg to differ, pal. It appears that practice is exactly what you needed. And exactly who didn't have their heads on straight? I bet NASCAR is furious at you for wasting the pole they gave you (unless this is some other shtick).

Just to play devil's advocate, it seems (from the report) that at least five drivers need more practice.

A three-car draft inadvertently drifted into a space occupied by a fast-closing, two-car grouping. The first of the two-car guys checks up and the second guy hits him. Smells like a racing incident involving five participants to me.

If you want to beotch about something, wait to see if DEJr comes from the back to win the 500. Then, please open-up with both barrels and plenty of ammo!

Ya know, I'm a Johnson fan, but it seems like there's never an accident at a plate track that he isn't somehow involved in.

A slow moving car with Michael Waltrip in it? Can't be. Only one person in this country has managed to go farther than Junior and MW on name recognition. (Attempting to flounder in a Nascar thread and bring down the whole interweb)

In reply to Wally:

Why all the hate for Lady Gaga?

Frank Stallone?

I like pie.

President Benjamin Harrison? Nancy Sinatra?

You know those damn Nascar guys really...I like Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Guess he's spent too much time watching Danica Patrick.

RealMiniDriver wrote: I like pie.

I'm not sure I even know why I like pie, (I think I know who he's talking about, but I'm not sure) but I do like pie. Just, please, don't say anything about schools. Seems to be my downfall.

In reply to fast_eddie_72:

The School of Hard Knocks needs a lot more graduates.

And pie!

fast_eddie_72 wrote: Ya know, I'm a Johnson fan, but it seems like there's never an accident at a plate track that he isn't somehow involved in.

he always somehow drives away from them without a scratch on his car and it's never really his fault..

Wally wrote: A slow moving car with Michael Waltrip in it? Can't be. Only one person in this country has managed to go farther than Junior and MW on name recognition. (Attempting to flounder in a Nascar thread and bring down the whole interweb)

But he is usually turned backwards when the rest of the cars go by.

In reply to DukeOfUndersteer:

So.....yawn.