No penalty for Earnhardt and Mears
TALK ABOUT YOUR OPINION ON THE PROBATION AND WHAT HAPPENED AFTER LAST WEEKEND’S RACE. “I don’t really have one. Me and (Casey) Mears are cool. We’ve been buddies. What happens on the track stays on the track. It’s good to be on probation every once in a while I guess."
HAVE YOU TALKED TO CASEY ABOUT IT? “Yeah, me and Casey are real good friends so we definitely wouldn’t go the week without having a discussion about it. He’s having a better season this year but is still not satisfied and I’m definitely in the same position he is and we’re just trying to run better. It’s just frustrating. I knew that he had made a mistake because Casey doesn’t run over people but I just lost my cool. It happens."
WAS SOME OF THAT YOUR FRUSTRATION COMING OUT? “Well not really. I just hated leading the race and running good and then getting wrecked running 20th. That’s all that was." GM Racing PR
04/21/09 NASCAR officials have placed Hendrick Motorsports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Richard Childress Racing’s Casey Mears on probation for the next six Sprint Cup races as a result of their on-track incident last Saturday following the conclusion of the race at Phoenix International Raceway. Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88, and Mears, driver of the No. 07, both violated Section 12-4-A – actions detrimental to stock-car racing – of the 2009 NASCAR rule book. Hitting another competitor’s car after the race had concluded is considered to fall under that rule.
On the cool-down lap after the race, Earnhardt Jr. spun Mears in retaliation for an accident that happened late in the event. Mears then bumped Earnhardt Jr. on pit road. The probation takes effect beginning with this weekend’s event at Talladega Superspeedway.
04/21/09 NASCAR will NOT penalize Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears for their post-race incident at Phoenix.Virginian Pilot