Dale Earnhardt Jr’s steering wheel fell off mid-race
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
An empty bottle of water fell out of my cupholder once and got lodged under my brake peddle. I only realized this when I was driving across an empty parking lot and it was terrifying. This is all a leadup to say that losing control of something you expect to have control over is scary, which makes this Dale Earnhardt Jr. moment all the more ludicrous.
Midway through the race at Talladega on Sunday Jr’s steering wheel came loose. Not just loose, but completely off. Granted, it came during a caution -- but that’s still incredibly fast and Dale Jr. was steering with one hand holding a rod like he was turning a door knob.
There was nothing wrong with the car, just a freak incident. Earnhardt Jr. took responsibility.
My steering wheel came off during a caution yesterday. I take full responsibility for not making sure it was connected properly beforehand..
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 2, 2016
There was no issue with the wheel or coupler. This is just a rare case of being in too big a hurry to return to the action...
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 2, 2016
We’re just glad everyone is okay, because this was scary.
h/t The Comeback
