Dale Earnhardt Jr. has given his thoughts on Wednesday night's NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray, which lasted a staggering three and a half hours from the first green flag.
The race, which had an official distance of just 50 miles, was paused for a time due to inclement weather conditions, and saw a massive 17 cautions as drivers struggled to adapt to the conditions despite the use of wet weather tires.
There was also a moment of controversy when the race was stopped with about 35 laps of green flag running remaining for all cars to refuel – a decision made after it appeared two cars ran out of fuel and several others were worried about their consumption.
Some crew chiefs and drivers complained that the decision favored teams who made the choice to go lighter on fuel and risk their races in the case of cautions (which did not count to the 200 lap total) extending the race.
Dale Jr: Credit to NASCAR for completing race
Dale Jr. admitted that he wasn't a fan of the refuelling call, but insisted that he was still entertained by the 'badass' spectacle of 750 horsepower Cup Series cars taking on the Madhouse.
Posting on social media this week, he said: "Lotta chatter on the race last night. I'm not complaining because I think Cup even racing at Bowman Grey period is badass.
"I appreciate NASCAR working to get a finish. The weather was an issue and I'm glad they pushed through instead of giving up. I don't like allowing the field to fuel when others had opted to put themselves at an advantage in that area.
"But it doesn't ruin the night for me. It was an exhibition and I was entertained. Appreciate the entire industry dealing with all the inconveniences to make the event happen."
