Overview
- Lee Pulliam, driving JR Motorsports’ No. 9, led 40 laps and finished fifth after a late missed shift at Martinsville on Saturday triggered a multi-car crash that collected teammate Carson Kvapil.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. backed Pulliam on his Dale Jr. Download podcast, said the driver made a clear mistake on the second-to-third gear change, and acknowledged he is biased as the team owner.
- Austin Green, knocked out in the wreck, criticized the error as unacceptable, and Earnhardt Jr. urged restraint as he argued public shaming helps no one and can boomerang on any driver.
- Denny Hamlin praised Earnhardt Jr. on Actions Detrimental for giving short-track standouts chances in NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, pointing to how that pipeline lifted drivers like Josh Berry and Carson Hocevar.
- Pulliam, 37, called the opportunity a dream and owned the restart struggles, returning to national-series action after stepping away over costs in prior years, with no 2026 O’Reilly starts yet announced.