Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t predict any friction will come from Kyle Larson’s spat with his spotter Tyler Monn after the No. 5 wheelman bluntly told him to shut his mouth during last weekend’s race in Loudon.
During the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, there was a moment where Larson was used up by Denny Hamlin. Monn chimed in on the radio, trying to encourage Larson not to let Hamlin push him around on the track, believing it’s happened in the past, as well.
Evidently, Larson didn’t want to hear it, ‘Shut the f— up,’ the former NASCAR Cup Series champion responded. The Hendrick star went about his business afterwards, ending up P4. Now, the question becomes, was Larson wrong for responding to Monn in that fashion? Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t think so.
“Kyle Larson, I think, is getting a bit tired of the prodding from those individuals that he relies on to support him. We’ve seen and heard this a little bit before, where his crew chief can be quite blunt and straight up with him, about what’s going on, or what he thinks he needs to do. Kyle Larson, you know, Kyle Larson’s not a guy that won’t use the bumper. Kyle Larson’s not a guy that won’t lean on you. He picks and chooses his battles,” Earnhardt Jr. said regarding Larson, via the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download. “He can’t — in that instance, coming off Turn 4, [Denny] Hamlin decides to use him up and take the line away. There’s nothing really that Larson could’ve done to stop that. Now, the next time he gets to him, could he punt him up the race track? Yeah, and I think that’s kind of what they want to see him do. Let Denny know on the track that you’re sick of it, and you don’t want him to — in that situation, Denny, you’re not going to, next time we’re in that situation, you’re not going to take the corner. You’re going to give me room, you’re going to race me fair.
“So, I think Kyle has that in him, but he doesn’t really — I think it’s way deep in the toolbox. He’s not an overly-aggressive guy, when you kind of push him around a little bit. He doesn’t get too crazy, he just races. I think they’re trying to tell him, ‘Look man, stop letting that happen,’ and he ain’t wanting to hear that, from his guys. So he snapped, and finally shot back, and made it pretty clear that that type of information from his spotter isn’t something he’s going to want to hear anytime in the future.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr: ‘There’s a line’ spotters don’t cross with their drivers
Will there be any issues between Larson and Monn moving forward? That’s not something Earnhardt Jr. is worried about, as he harkened back to some blowouts he got into with his spotters over the course of his NASCAR career, and why there was never any use dwelling on them.
“They don’t probably have one,” Earnhardt Jr. stated, regarding whether Larson and Monn should have a sit-down conversation about what happened. “You know, (Earnhardt Jr.’s former spotter) TJ [Majors] wouldn’t have needed to sit down and wanted to talk, if I would’ve said that. It’s just that, you’re racing, it’s heat of the moment. He said what he said. You’re like — I don’t want to repeat what Larson said, but that’s pretty much the end of the conversation right there. Larson’s the driver, it’s the final word. He’s the last laugh. Whatever he kind of says at the end of the deal is what’s up. Now, the crew chief has a little more leverage, and can hold the driver a little more accountable, but the spotter, and I’m going to catch hell from DBC (Door-Bumper-Clear), but the spotters, they’ve got to be honest. It’s good for them to be honest and tell it like it is. But there’s a line there, where you’ve got to be careful, or the driver is going to fire back.
“And what does that look like publicly? Doesn’t that look like Larson cracked the whip? I mean, when you watch that play out publicly, and it gets played on air for all to see, it sounds to me like Larson told him to shut the f up. That was a, ‘I’ve had it. Get your s— together.’ If I’m Larson, I think he’s saying like, ‘I’m all for you being honest, but I don’t need that. I don’t need that bulls—.’ … I think Larson handled it and it’s over. I don’t think they need to have a talk. I think that Larson, if the spotter wants to go to Larson and say, ‘Hey man, let’s talk,’ I think Larson probably just says, ‘I’m comfortable with you criticizing my line, other choices I’m making, but that s— right there? It’s a bit too much, and I don’t want to hear it.’ So they’ll adjust going forward. … Every time I’ve ever been in that situation, you get out of the car and it’s over. You don’t discuss it. It’s not, it’s just — it’s heat of the moment.”
Moving forward, it’s obvious Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t expect any further issues between Kyle Larson and Tyler Monn. Still, Kyle Larson proved on Sunday afternoon that he’s the one in charge, and even if Tyler Monn had the right intentions, you’re either on the No. 5 driver’s side, or against him.
The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. defends Kyle Larson in dustup with spotter over Denny Hamlin, but needs to see more appeared first on On3.
