Earnhardt Jr. crashes on first lap, finishes 43rd
February 25, 2001
5:02 PM EST (2202 GMT)
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - In the first NASCAR Winston Cup Series event since his father’s tragic death, Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to complete even one lap.
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The cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kenny Wallace and Mike Wallace were all involved in the first-lap crash.
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Junior, who started Sunday’s Dura Lube 400 in the 25th position, was battling for position heading into Turn 4 on the first lap when he was hit in the rear by Ron Hornaday and sent into the wall coming out of Turn 3. The right front side of the No. 8 Chevrolet was demolished, eliminating him from contention and leaving him with a 43rd-place finish.
Dale Jr., 26, walked away limping on his left leg from the accident, which left his car damaged beyond repair. He was checked at the infield care center and released.
“I got caught in a bottleneck up there and got hit in the rear,” Junior said. “I might be a little bruised, but tell everyone back home I’m fine. I was really ready to go racing, we’ll be alright.”
Kenny Wallace, Mike Wallace, Jimmy Spencer and Hut Stricklin were all involved in the accident as well.
“It was just like a traffic jam,” Kenny Wallace said. “Everybody was wanting the bottom of the racetrack and everybody stacked up. I guess somebody got into the back of Little E and then he got up into me and all hell broke loose. It’s a bad deal.”
Mike Wallace saw it this way: “It appeared two cars got a little out of shape getting into turn-3 and I was on the top of the racetrack. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to get slowed down and I ran in the back of Kenny (Wallace). It’s a shame. The (car), the first couple laps, was going fine. I thought we were gonna be patient, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be today.”
Earnhardt Jr., finished second last week to Dale Earnhardt, Inc., teammate Michael Waltrip in the Daytona 500. The Winston Cup Series heads to Las Vegas next week for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, where Junior finished 10th in the 2000.
The race was delayed more than an hour for rain, then red-flagged after 52 of 393 laps. It will resume Monday at 11 a.m. ET.
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