"We don’t know really how badly damaged Kyle’s car was" - Dale Earnhardt Jr. defends Kyle Busch's abrupt parking at Darlington Raceway

Dale Earnhardt Jr., the NASCAR Hall of Famer, has come forth in support of Kyle Busch. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been continuously facing criticism for leaving his #18 Toyota on the pit road at last week’s race at Darlington Raceway. Earnhardt Jr.'s perspective on looking at this situation, however, was different.

During the latest episode of his Dale Jr. Download podcast, Earnhardt Jr. defended Busch, saying no one apart from the driver and his crew knew how bad of a situation his #18 car was.

Busch had earlier driven the car to the garage and parked it on the pit road, thereby obstructing it. The 47-year-old then went on to say that maybe Busch felt that he would not be able to get the car to the garage, so he decided to leave it on the track and walked away.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said:

“We don’t know really how badly damaged Kyle’s car was. Maybe he knew that he was not going to be able to make the turn in the garage without doing a seven-point turn. So he decided just to leave it right there and get out. I feel like big freakin’ deal. He parked his car on pit road and got out.”

He continued by saying:

“I don’t think it’s crazier than anything else he’s ever done,” Earnhardt said. “This is kind of the norm. I’m kind of used to. This doesn’t affect me. This doesn’t bother me. You’ve come to expect it.”

---

“He ruined the entire part of the race”- Brett Griffin has a different opinion as compared to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Justin Haley’s spotter Brett Griffin believes NASCAR officials should have looked at Kyle Busch's damaged car to see if it was in the right shape to get into the garage. He opined that if it was, then the driver should have been fined 100 points.

Claiming that Busch ruined the entire part of the race, Griffin said:

“They should take a NASCAR official and put him in that car, and if that car will crank and that car is able to drive through that gate into the garage then he should be fined 100 points. He ruined the entire part of the race as far as what we were doing for pitting, he ruined the commercial strategy, he changed everything because he was being exactly what Tommy just called him.”

Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr. also suggested that Busch’s annoying attitude and behavior could reduce his future tenure with the Joe Gibbs Racing team.