Was Kyle Busch’s inadvertent wrecking of Chase Elliott on Wednesday night bad for everyone involved? Yes. Was Elliott wrong to stand on the edge of the track and flip Busch the bird rather than heading toward the ambulance? Also, yes.
But what happened at the end of the Toyota 500 at Darlington Raceway was undeniably entertaining, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is among the many who believe NASCAR could benefit from an uptick in such drama.
In a series of tweets Thursday morning, Earnhardt explained why he ultimately was fine with Wednesday night’s shenanigans.
Take a look:
Some rules in the book survive decades, some just fade away.
Also, it’s habitual to get out when you are ready to get out. https://t.co/BDod59waaj
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 21, 2020
I never understood most of that. Deterring contact? Contact, rough driving, overly aggressive moves are what make stock car racing great. I love a clean race as much as the next person but a lot of key moments in our sport involve this type of drama. Gimme more. https://t.co/UPuO9qSoxP
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 21, 2020
I don’t like that either. But I’d rather the drivers police it than involve the officials I guess. If a guy wants to run over people, he will have to deal with his peers one way or another down the line. And we’d all tune in to see when. https://t.co/EMGCCSR3wp
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 21, 2020
You get mad as hell. Raging mad. Now it’s fun to watch someone else do that. https://t.co/0VpvPGyMHF
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 21, 2020
Hard to argue with any of that.
Nevertheless, Busch’s many haters took to Twitter after the incident with Elliott to criticize their least favorite driver. Busch’s wife, Samantha, was there to meet them head-on.