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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 11: Dale Earnhardt Jr., owner of JR Motorsports, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 11, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Curry\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/a> has defended non-Chase drivers who keep racing hard against championship contenders, saying playoff drivers accept that risk when they enter a race. Earnhardt made the comments on his latest Dirty Air episode while discussing the latest clash between Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s William Sawalich and Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Corey Day.<\/p>\n The two NASCAR drivers made contact again at World Wide Technology Raceway after their earlier incident at Darlington. Sawalich was already out of Chase contention, while Day remained in the championship fight.<\/p>\n Earnhardt said that difference should not change how either driver races. The NASCAR veteran also explained why Chase drivers may face more danger from competitors who have already missed the title battle.<\/p>\n Dale Earnhardt Jr. Defends Non-Chase Drivers<\/p>\n Earnhardt said non-Chase drivers<\/a> still have the right to race aggressively and compete for wins during the NASCAR playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all on the same racetrack together, and those guys that aren\u2019t in the chase have as much right to race, to win, to race hard, to be aggressive, to do everything that they would have done in race 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, all the way through the year.\u201d<\/p>\n Earnhardt acknowledged that hard racing can hurt a championship contender but said that risk comes with competing in the race.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you get knocked out by a non-chase guy, that\u2019s the risk you take when you sign up to put your entry into the race,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He also rejected the idea of giving Chase drivers different treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to treat these chase guys differently and punish the non-chase guys. They\u2019re already punished. They didn\u2019t make the chase.\u201d<\/p>\n Sawalich-Day Clash Continues<\/p>\n The NASCAR rivalry between Sawalich and Day continued at World Wide Technology Raceway after their earlier clash at Darlington.<\/p>\n During the opening Chase race at Darlington, Day sent Sawalich into the wall. Day later said Sawalich told him they would \u201csee how the rest of your Chase goes.\u201d<\/p>\n At World Wide Technology Raceway, Day was shoved up into Sawalich entering Turn 1. Sawalich then turned left into Day\u2019s door, sending Day into a spin and into the inside wall. Day finished 33rd, while Sawalich remained in the race.<\/p>\n Earnhardt said Sawalich may have wanted to send a message, but the move also damaged his own car.<\/p>\n \u201cI damaged my car. I may have sent my message and got my message across to Corey Day, but I also damaged my car, and I bet my team had a problem with that.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that Sawalich could have viewed the incident differently afterward.<\/p>\n \u201cHe probably realizes after the fact that was a pretty stupid move on my part.\u201d<\/p>\n Dale Earnhardt Jr. Warns Chase Drivers<\/p>\n Earnhardt said NASCAR Chase drivers may need to leave more room for competitors who are no longer fighting for the championship.<\/p>\n \u201cI would probably give the non-chase guy a little more room. He\u2019s not to be f***ed with.\u201d<\/p>\n He explained that Chase drivers have more at stake because they are trying to protect their championship positions.<\/p>\n \u201cChase guys, they got s*** to lose. They\u2019re going to be trying to \u2013 well, we thought they were going to try to race smart. Some of them didn\u2019t someday.\u201d<\/p>\n Earnhardt said the current NASCAR Chase format can make non-Chase drivers especially aggressive because they are no longer protecting a championship position.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the non-chase guys are more dangerous even now in this system.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 11: Dale Earnhardt Jr., owner of JR Motorsports, looks on in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":897855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-897854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}