James Gilbert/Getty Images

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Put NASCAR Driver On Blast After Martinsville Race

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Apr 2, 2025 1:37 PM ET

Former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't hold back his thoughts on last weekend's Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Sammy Smith was recently docked 50 points for wrecking Taylor Gray during the final lap of last Saturday's Xfinity Series race. He wrecked Gray's car as they were approaching Turn 3, which ultimately triggered a multi-car crash at Martinsville.

While there's no question Smith received criticism for his aggressive driving last weekend, Earnhardt pointed out that a similar situation unfolded during the Cup Series race. He called out Erik Jones for "knocking" a rival driver out of the way just to claim 20th place.

"People ain’t going to love what I’m about to say, but I sat there and watched the Cup race Sunday, and Erik Jones drove into Turn 3 three car lengths deep and knocked somebody’s [expletive] out of the way," Earnhardt said.

Oddly enough, Jones was actually disqualified from Sunday's race at Martinsville because his vehicle failed to meet minimum weight requirements.

Earnhardt also made it clear that his issue isn't strictly with Jones. He'd like to see NASCAR lay the hammer down on its drivers.

"The way to do it going forward is to penalize people in the moment while it’s happening," Earnhardt explained, via On3. "I think one of the reasons why they’re hesitant to do it is because NASCAR’s always had this sort of strange approach towards incidents.

"They won’t really react unless a driver comes out and says damning admission ‘I did it.’ And then NASCAR’s like, ‘We weren’t going to do anything until you said you did it on purpose.' I think they need to pivot from that mentality of calling incidents just at Martinsville. Go to Martinsville and say, ‘Hey, if you go down in the corner and your right front touches the guy in the left rear and he spins, you are going to the back with him. That will stop this [expletive]."

The Cup Series will resume this Sunday at Darlington Raceway.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: