Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes a blunt statement against NASCAR fans accusing him of "Josh Berry fandom" 

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat down to reflect on the chaotic late-race moments at Sonoma Raceway, he didn't hold back. The NASCAR Hall of Famer addressed Josh Berry's recent on-track incidents and the accusations that his perspective was biased due to his long-time connection with the Wood Brothers Racing driver.

With Berry coming under scrutiny for his final-lap contact with Carson Hocevar and earlier bump with Erik Jones, many fans and analysts weighed in on whether his actions were justified or retaliatory. For Dale Jr. Earnhardt, there was no fault. Speaking in the Dale Jr. Download, he said:

"Everybody who's sitting here going, 'F*** Dale Jr. and his Josh Berry fandom, of course he's going to tap his back.' You're right. You're absolutely right. Josh is the f***ing man." (39:40 onwards)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never hidden his fondness for Josh Berry, a driver he has mentored for over a decade. Berry joined JR Motorsports as a full-time driver in 2010 for the Late Model Stock Car series. In the next ten years, he became the center of JRM's late model program, winning 95 races and two CARS Tour championships.

In the record-setting 2020 season, Berry won 24 races across the Southeast and became the first driver in JRM history to win the NASCAR Weekly Series National Championship.

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"Josh Berry didn't give Jones a break": Dale Earnhardt Jr. reviews the Sonoma chaos

Josh Berry with Dale Earnhardt Jr. after the Stewart-Haas Announcement. Source: Getty

Speaking in the aforementioned podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. discussed the contact between Josh Berry and both Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar in the final laps at Sonoma. The incidents stirred up tension among fans and insiders alike, especially as Berry went unpunished in NASCAR's weekly penalty report.

It all started in Chicago, where Erik Jones spun off the nose of Berry's No. 21 Ford going into Turn 7. Earnhardt believes the Sonoma bump was payback for their clash a week earlier. He said:

"Josh Berry had a pretty eventful last couple of laps of the race... the 43 of Jones spun off the nose of the 21, coming out of turn seven. That looked like possible payback from the week before at Chicago. And you know what? Hey, that's how you do it... Josh is a friend of mine, so you call it whatever you want to call, I don't give a sh**. But that is not a passing zone down the hill into turn seven at Chicago." (35:43 onwards)

The Chicago contact, according to Earnhardt, was unwarranted. But when it came to the Turn 2 shove at Sonoma that sent Hocevar's No. 77 car spinning, even he admitted it looked personal.

"So Josh is a racer, and he's like, 'Hey, perfect f***ing opportunity right here. Turn seven, a couple of laps to go. So, he didn't give he didn't give Jones a break. Got into his back bumper, spun him around. Intentionally or not, I don't got a problem with that one. But then we get to the top of the hill in turn two, and it looked to me like this one was a, 'you're f***ing out of here... this looked really intentional to me because you know Josh just drives in and pops the 77," he added. (37:07 onwards)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also revealed he later texted Berry after the race, only to receive a measured reply. Berry earned a 13th-place finish despite earlier struggles and older tires, thanks to his assertiveness.

Meanwhile, Hocevar has landed in trouble with several drivers for his aggressive driving style all season long, including Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Dale Jr. saw the events as part of NASCAR's natural way of give-and-take, particularly among aggressive drivers like Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar.