With the NASCAR off-season currently underway, a lot of the focus is on Late Model Racing. Of late, there has been an uptick in violent off-track incidents in these events. The most recent incident took place this past weekend at the Thanksgiving Classic at the Southern National Motorsports Park between Bradley McCaskill and Ryan Joyner. The event had a lot of eminent NASCAR veterans talking about it, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Junior is one of the key members of the CARS Tour and the 49-year-old recently explained how to keep a check on these rising cases of violent altercations. The former Cup Series driver was quite disappointed when an even larger brawl broke out in Martinsville during the ValleyStar 300 earlier this year. It’s safe to say that like a lot of fans, Dale Earnhardt Jr is tired of drivers fighting one another on pit road.

Dale Earnhardt Jr puts emphasis on quick decisions and tough calls

In a recent interview, the 49-year-old explained what needs to be done to keep a check on such incidents. As one of the key figures in the CARS Tour, Junior said that the decisions need to be quick and ruthless. He said that there have been times when his own drivers were accused of similar actions and when they were penalized, the former Cup Series driver supported the decisions.

“You just have to set an example every time that this is not gonna be something that we’re gonna put up with and you have to do it quickly. We had a couple of instances this year and me and the other guys in the ownership group are on the phone together immediately. We got to do the right thing here,” Dale Earnhardt Junior said.

However, being in the ownership picture means that one has to take tough decisions. Junior acknowledged this fact. It can be especially difficult for organizers to penalize a driver or a team at times since it can strain their relationship with the concerned parties. However, that is not a reason for lawlessness to run rampant at race tracks.

“I try to keep that in mind going forward now that I have some influence in those types of calls and decisions. You have to eventually do some difficult things and make some tough decisions and hopefully, the parties concerned understand why you had to do that and that they continue to race with you and they change their actions,” the 49-year-old added.

On Sunday in the Thanksgiving Classic, all hell broke loose between Bradley McCaskill and Ryan Joyner. The two drivers had a vicious pit road altercation after an immature on-track incident.

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Thanksgiving Classic ruined as immature racing incident leads to massive brawl

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McCaskill had started the race from pole and with 7 laps to go, he found himself in P2 with Joyner right behind in the Limited Late Models event. The driver of the #15 did everything he could to get past the #7 but McCaskill’s hard defense stood firm. This frustrated Joyner, who intentionally wrecked his rival instead of trying to make a clean pass.

Joyner was shown the black flag as McCaskill’s race came to an end. When the #15 stopped on pit road, McCaskill poked his head inside Joyner’s car before a shoving contest ensued behind him between the crews. Things got real ugly real fast and before long, it was one of the biggest stories in the world of NASCAR.

It was not just insiders who expressed dissatisfaction with what had transpired. Fans on social media were livid over the violence, as they have witnessed similar incidents on multiple occasions in Late Model Racing this year. It will be interesting to see what steps the organizers take to curb such incidents.

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