NASCAR driver Dawson Cram reached out to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his suspension on iRacing. Cram requested Dale Jr. to lift the suspension considering he clocked countless hours in preparation for the in-game Rolex 24 or Daytona 24.
Dawson Cram is a 23-year-old professional stock car racing driver who ran a part-time schedule in the Xfinity Series for teams like JD Motorsports last year. He asked Earnhardt Jr. for help because the latter is an executive director at iRacing.
In an X (formerly Twitter) post, the North Carolina native shared the suspension notice while ranting about the situation, saying:
"Whoever got me suspended on @iracing the week of the 24 after I’ve done 46 hours of testing because bump drafted a gt3… I hope u stub your toe [...] Please fix this @iRacingMyers @DaleJr."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. later replied but said he couldn't do anything about the matter.
"Dawson. You're a good dude. But I ain't got nothing to do with protests and cannot assist in any way," Dale Jr. wrote.
Based on iRacing's suspension notice, Cram, who was driving an LMP2, was bump-drafting GT3 cars after he was lapped. As a lapped car, the driver would make room for cars on the lead lap to pass, affecting his overall race.
Instead of running his race normally as a lapped car, the NASCAR driver bump-drafted GT3 cars, which are slower than LMP2s. While the driver got suspended for his actions, he believed they weren't against the sporting code.
Cram wanted to lift the suspension because he is raising money for the Terry Fox Foundation through iRacing's Daytona 24 event.
After a few hours of appealing, iRacing removed the penalty. However, the driver was told not to disrupt the races of other platform users even for on-track actions not stated in the sporting code.
In response, Cram wrote:
"We did it."
Similar to IMSA SportsCar Championship's 24 Rolex, the 24 Daytona on iRacing is also running for 24 hours at the virtual Daytona International Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. set to join Daytona 500 with Justin Allgaier
Aside from his iRacing duties, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a co-owner of the NASCAR Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports. However, the team is venturing to the Cup Series in the Daytona 500 this year.
JR Motorsports will field its Xfinity Series driver, Justin Allgaier, who will be coming off a championship-winning run. The unprecedented entry was made possible with primary sponsorship from Chris Stapleton's Traveller Whiskey brand.
Explaining why the team chose No. 40, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said (via the Dale Jr. Download podcast):
“It’s a connection to the blend No. 40 that Traveller’s utilizes in every bottle, so much like High Rock is 88 proof. There is a connection to the product, and I’ll be honest with you, I was indifferent… It’s Traveller’s first experience and allowing them to have a little skin in the game in terms of they were involved, they were very particular about the design of the car, and we all compromised a bit. Them having this number they identify with is I think, fair and important." [5:27 onwards]
On a side note, High Rock is a vodka company Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife Amy co-own in collaboration with Sugarlands Distilling Company.
Xfinity Series defending champion Justin Allgaier will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 in the event's race week starting on February 13. He will go up against other open car drivers such as Martin Truex Jr., Helio Castroneves, and J.J. Yeley.