Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Sunday at Auto Club Speedway got off to an inauspicious start several hours before the green flag for his 600th in NASCAR’s premier series.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver tweeted that his right-front tire has a puncture in it, and his No. 88 Chevrolet will start at the back and forfeit his 18th starting position.
NASCAR.com confirmed with the Hendrick team that Earnhardt will go to the back.
Earnhardt shared a photo of the tire on Twitter and noted that his team would be able to replace only the right tire, which could make for some wonky handling on the abrasive 2-mile oval.
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
Under a new rule this season, NASCAR mandates that drivers must start the race on the tires they used to qualify.
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Switching tires sends the car to the rear for the green flag, which happened to Denny Hamlin at Phoenix Raceway last week.
Earnhardt still isn’t a fan of the new policy, particularly at a track such as Fontana, whose razor-sharp surface tears apart tires.
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