Jayski's NASCAR Archives

Drivers not happy with track cleanup:

#18-Kyle Busch and #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. were angry at NASCAR for what they felt was a lousy job cleaning up the track in the top of the groove between Turns 1 and 2 from a #51-Justin Allgaier oil spill on lap 182 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Both drivers hit the wall as they tried to put themselves in position to finish on the lead lap. Earnhardt, one lap down, ended up in the wall shortly before lap 200 and wound up four laps down in 28th. Busch hit it about 15 laps later, finishing one lap down in 20th. “You can’t pass anybody “” it’s a single-lane race track and then [a driver] put oil on the top lane [where we] to try to make anything happen and then you put yourself in the fence “” so thanks to NASCAR for cleaning that up,” Busch said sarcastically.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series director Richard Buck said NASCAR had cleanup workers actually walk the areas where drivers complained about oil, and they felt no oil, just the kitty litter-type absorbent. Earnhardt said NASCAR might have missed the oil because of shadows on the track, but Buck said workers and the pace-car driver did not feel any oil. “I’ve raced this [stuff] for 20 years,” Earnhardt said. “I know what oil and [the absorbent] Speedi Dri is. We hit fluid, flew into the freaking wall hard. That’s not Speedi Dri. There was oil up there. “¦ I hit the f””ing wall. I know I hit oil. I hit it. I promise. I’ll argue with them all day long because I know I’m right.”(ESPN)(10-11-2015)