“I loved it”: Mark Martin takes a sly dig at NASCAR while recalling Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s infamous 2004 Talladega comment 

Mark Martin has called out NASCAR in his latest X post. The veteran driver took issue with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2004 penalty for using profanity in his Talladega victory lane interview.

Earnhardt grabbed his fifth Talladega win in 2004. The result was also his fifth of the season, as he beat the likes of Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart to add another feather to his cap. An excited Earnhardt used some mild profanity in his victory lane speech, but instead of a fine, NASCAR penalised him with a points deduction.

Earnhardt's fan account, by the name of Real Racing, shared the anecdote and wrote,

"Dale Jr was fined 25 points for saying sh*t in this post race interview after his 2004 Dega win"

Mark Martin, who doesn't shy away from criticising NASCAR, reshared the post and offered his own take on the situation.

"I loved it and so did everyone else except for @NASCAR," he wrote.

The Talladega win gave Earnhardt the unofficial points lead at the time. However, NASCAR's penalty ensured the opposite. 2004 was Earnhardt's most dominant year, as he racked up six wins and sixteen top-5s. Nonetheless, the DEI driver lost momentum during the later races and finished fifth on the final points standings.

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"We are lucky to have him": Mark Martin praises Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s efforts in grass roots racing

Mark Martin recently showered praise on Dale Earnhardt Jr. for expanding the zMax CARS Tour to new venues. The racing series, co-owned by Earnhardt and Kevin Harvick, continues to shed light on up and coming drivers in the late model and pro late model division.

In a recent event at Florence Speedway, Earnhardt spoke to the media and said,

"We're never going to leave these type of race tracks and go to bigger, better, you know, venues. We love the grassroots connection. We love the vibe and energy that you get when you're at a race track like Florence or any of the other tracks we run at." (1:04 onwards)

Mark Martin shared the interview on X with a note of appreciation.

"The work @DaleJr is doing is for pavement late model racing is so needed. He is the greatest asset teams and fans could ever dream of. We are lucky to have him working for the betterment of our sport," he wrote.

The CARS Tour had it's first national broadcast during the All-Star weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The racing product was televised on FS1 and attracted 253,000 viewers.

Many drivers from the series have made the jump to NASCAR. Carson Kvapil, a two-time champion in the late model division, currently drives for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. Current ARCA Menards champion and part-time Xfinity driver, Brenden Queen, is also a CARS Tour champion.

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Edited by Vignesh Kanna