Junior's house of horrors

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- With five victories here, including four consecutive between 2001 and '03, Dale Earnhardt Jr. could always count on a treat or two when it came to Talladega Superspeedway. And the majority of fans who roar at every mention of his name have continued to expect the No. 88 Chevrolet to find its way to the front.

But since his 2004 victory, the fall race at the 2.66-mile oval has somehow become a house of horrors for Junior. In 2005, he was caught up in a crash just 19 laps into the race, finishing 40th. The following year, he was battling for the lead when Brian Vickers turned Jimmie Johnson into Earnhardt. Engine woes sidelined him with another 40th-place finish in 2008.

And on Halloween Sunday, Earnhardt fans were once again frustrated when he tangled with Jeff Burton on Lap 133, an accident that caused severe damage to Junior's car and required extensive repairs in the garage area. Earnhardt eventually returned to the race 25 laps down and wound up 39th.

"I got into Jeff and didn't hit him square and turned him down the race track and ended up wrecking him," Junior said. "We just didn't hit him square, misjudged the push I was going to give him and did it incorrectly. [It] cost his crew a great race car and opportunity to win. He had a really fast car."

Earnhardt felt badly enough about things to climb from his car and trot into the infield medical center to tell Burton he was sorry.

"I just wanted to apologize to him," Junior said. "Man, he's one of the ambassadors for our sport and I have so much respect for him. When you are out there racing, you aren't considering all those things.

"As soon as I turned him, I felt terrible about it. I just respect him so much. He's taught me a lot in my career. I didn't show him as much respect as I should have but I didn't have any intentions of spinning him out. I was racing a little bit hard out there."

For his part, Burton saw it as just a typical restrictor-plate racing incident.

"It's just racing," Burton said. "Junior and I worked really well [Sunday] and pushed each other a lot. We just didn't get lined up that time and I guess he got me in the right-rear quarter panel and got me turned around.

"It wasn't anything on purpose. We just didn't get lined up. ... It all got started going into Turn 3 and it got three-wide and it kind of changed everybody's line a little bit and I think I moved a little different than he thought I was going to."

Earnhardt also apologized to Richard Childress, the No. 31 crew and his own team for perhaps being a little too impatient.

"My boys, too, they worked really hard on my car," Junior said. "We had a terrific engine [Sunday] and a real fast car. We were racing along there, probably more racing than we should have been doing, but it is fun. I just kind of got caught up and got a little overzealous there getting ready to push Jeff there."

It was definitely a disappointing end to a day that held much promise. Junior started sixth and went to the front by Lap 3. He eventually led six times for a race-high 24 laps and was in the thick of the battle for the first two-thirds of the event.

But it only takes one misstep to create a catastrophe at 190 mph, and for Earnhardt, it was a minute miscalculation.

"Whenever you push somebody, you think you know what you are doing," Junior said. "They're moving and you are moving and the cars are dicing around in the air so you are always sliding across the back of each other. It just so happened it was the perfect storm.

"I was coming up the track and he was sort of moving down and at the right time we touched to hook him. We had done it all day long and not had any problems. You saw a lot of other guys do the same thing and not have any problems. I just incorrectly did it and misjudged it, or whatever you want to call it."

But for Earnhardt, the option of playing it safe just isn't part of his makeup.

"The fans don't want to see us all running around the top," Junior said. "I mean we have run up there sometimes because you are going to go to the back if you pull out. When you have the opportunity to race, you want to race. We were just racing a little bit there and just got to racing a little bit too hard."

Even though his luck in the fall race has been all bad, Earnhardt still has a ton of respect for close-quarters racing at NASCAR's biggest and fastest track.

"It is hairy stuff but it is what you have to do if you want to get up to the lead," Junior said. "You want to be up front and you have to put your car toward the front for your sponsors and your fans. You have a lot of people here to please and you feel that responsibility to be up there all the time every lap you can be up front.

"Everybody has that same mentality. We are all just kind of racing around. It is fun and pretty exciting. Just times as you seen with my accident and I guess the last couple that we have had, just sometimes you make mistakes and I made one [Sunday]."

Video:
• Junior bumps Burton, resulting in both getting into the wall