Standing on pit road at Talladega Superspeedway after the latest in his string of good finishes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw Jimmie Johnson driving toward him, about to make the turn to Victory Lane.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Pushes Jimmie Johnson To Talladega Victory, Gets Fourth-Place Finish And Flag
Earnhardt Jr. bolted from a pack of reporters and jogged toward Johnson’s car, then did a celebratory juke move as he approached the driver’s side window.
He leaned into the car and shook Johnson’s hand, and the winning driver handed the fourth-place driver the checkered flag.
“Man, I don’t want that,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
“Well, I gotta give you something for the push and working with me!” Johnson replied.
“No, that’s what teammates do,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
“Just take the damn flag,” Johnson said, laughing.
Earnhardt Jr. took it reluctantly – but happily – and said though he didn’t agree he deserved it, he’d find a place for it in his trophy case.
“I appreciate it and I’ll get him to sign it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’ll be the one checkered flag I got that ain’t mine.”
Johnson was pushed to the finish line – in what tied the closest finish in NASCAR history – by a teammate who Johnson said "was committed – as was I."
"It could have gone either way if we were single file," Johnson added, "but the way the race unfolded, the leader had the spot. And he pushed me to victory."
Earnhardt Jr., who had been a critic of the two-car draft style of racing, said working with Johnson all day “actually made the race tolerable and actually somewhat fun at times.”
He had decided to be completely committed to Johnson – his teammate in Hendrick Motorsports’ 48/88 shop – after the Nationwide Series race on Saturday.
In that event, Earnhardt Jr. had separated from JR Motorsports teammate Aric Almirola at the end – and had a less-than-satisfactory finish because of it.
“We all had commitment phobia – nobody really wanted to go all the way,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “So I told (Johnson) today, ‘We gotta stay committed no matter what happens. Every lap. Every restart.’ And it worked out.”
Earnhardt Jr. credited Johnson with picking all the correct lines at the end of the race, and the No. 88 driver just followed and pushed Johnson all the way.
“I was screaming on the radio for him not to lift no matter what,” Earnhardt Jr. said. ”(Spotter) T.J. (Majors) was screaming and Jimmie was screaming.
“(Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin) tried to squeeze us down, and I got into the side of Mark real hard and it turned us sideways, and I thought we were going to have a hell of a wreck. But I was able to save it somehow and had enough energy to push Jimmie to the win.”
Of course, Earnhardt Jr. said he would have preferred to win himself – it’s been 101 races without a victory now – but he was still pleased with the points. His fourth-place result moved him up three spots to third place in the standings.
“I would have loved to have won the race, but in this kind of package, you have to make some sacrifices,” Earnhardt Jr. said, then added with a laugh: “Just like a relationship.”
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