#97-Kurt Busch’s crew chief, Jimmy Fenning, felt Earnhardt got a favorable call from NASCAR when his car began trailing smoke. ”What makes me the maddest is not the is not the rain but the fact that NASCAR let the 8 [Earnhardt] car stay out there, knowing he was going to blow a motor and didn’t black-flag him and bring him in.”( Tennessean ); Engine? Earnhardt Jr had brake problems, came in right after hitting the wall, heard nothing about an engine problem. AND Before the big trouble developed, Earnhardt’s team had problems in the pits, losing time because of difficulties changing lug nuts. He also was penalized later for pitting too soon. Earnhardt also was blamed for problems experienced by Kurt Busch, who hit the wall behind Earnhardt. “It seems like every time we come here to Charlotte and Las Vegas we get the bad calls,” Busch said. “The 8 (Earnhardt) was riding around with his rear brakes locked up, and he broke a rotor. I think NASCAR should have black-flagged him earlier, but that’s their call. We ran over the rotor, smacked the wall and cut a tire. Then they didn’t clean the track again, so we cut another tire. It’s just always something here, and they shouldn’t have called the race so early.”( Greenville News )(5-26-2003)
