NASCAR Kansas 2014: Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashes into wall after tire failure

A blown right-front tire sent Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashing into the outside Turn 4 wall during Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.

At the time of the incident on Lap 123, Earnhardt was out front and leading. He said there was little warning of a potential tire failure. The entire right side of the No. 88 car incurred substantial damage, with Earnhardt immediately going to the garage for repairs.

“Really wasn’t running that hard,” Earnhardt said. “We haven’t had any tire wear. We didn’t wear the inside edge out down to the cords and pop the tire, the tread just came off.”

“The tread unwound off the tire going into (Turn) 3 all the way through the middle of the corner. I felt the tire unwinding and the surface of the tire was gone by the time I got to the exit of the corner and it blew.”

Earnhardt was the second Hendrick Motorsports driver to encounter trouble Sunday. Teammate Jimmie Johnson was involved in a multi-car wreck several laps before Earnhardt’s accident. Like Earnhardt, Johnson suffered significant damage and was in the garage undergoing repairs.

Both drivers are in jeopardy of not advancing past the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs following the Oct. 19 at Talladega Superspeedway. Earnhardt and Johnson will either need to win next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway or at Talladega, or climb high enough in points to move on.

“Yeah, the points, it’s going to hurt,” Earnhardt said. “It is what it is. We just have to go to the next race and try to win.”

After unexpectedly struggling in Round 1 of the Chase, Earnhardt was running well at Kansas. The car he was driving was the same chassis Earnhardt twice won with this season at Pocono Raceway. He had led a total of 45 laps Sunday before the failure.

“Man, that was a great race car,” Earnhardt said. “We hadn’t been running very good the last several weeks. But man, when we came in here with a great attitude and a great fast car.

“This is going to hurt us in the points, obviously, but we’ve got a lot of racing left and a lot of racing to win. We’re running good.”