By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor
On the day he makes his 600th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will have his work cut out for him as he will have to start from the rear of the field in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 after discovering a cut tire.
Under the new rules this season that drivers have to start the race on the tires they qualified, Earnhardt will have to vacate his 19th place starting position to join some other big names at the rear of the field, including Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano. The same issue happened to Denny Hamlin last weekend at Phoenix.
On Sunday morning, Earnhardt tweeted a photo of the cut in the tire and noted that Goodyear had recommended they change the tire.
My RF tire has a cut in it. @GoodyearRacing suggests we replace and start last. pic.twitter.com/d1AUZR9e5p
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) March 26, 2017
Despite having to start from the back, the layout of Auto Club Speedway should provide Earnhardt and others a good opportunity to be able to make their way through the field as the race plays out. Even with that in mind, Earnhardt is still not a fan of the rule, and let that be known on Twitter.
It is a poor rule. We should have just skipped qualifying and we would have 4 stickers. Instead we have 1 sticker and 3 used tires. 😫 https://t.co/EdHNHPNVQJ
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) March 26, 2017
Ya, it’ll drive kinda funny and we won’t really be able to know what adjustments it might need or might not need at first pit stop. https://t.co/tmZDUiNI8K
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) March 26, 2017
In 24 starts at Auto Club Speedway, Earnhardt has five top-five finishes, seven top-10 finishes, 28 laps led, and an average finish of 18.6.
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