The Fox broadcasters Couldn't Apologize Enough for Kyle Busch After He Wrecked Dale Earnhardt Jr Saturday Night.

Dale Earnhardt Jr was leading with 4 laps to go when Kyle Busch turned his Toyota hard into the side of Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet.

Earnhardt quickly went from the lead to a 16th place finish after running at the front of the pack all night long.

I guess if Kyle Busch can't out run you -- he will wreck you.

What was really strange was the way Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds couldn't apologize enough for Busch after the crash that took Earnhardt out of contention.

Before the race:

After turning the fastest lap in practice Friday -- by three-tenths of a second -- Dale Jr could only manage a 22nd place qualifying effort for Saturday night's Sprint Cup Series race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr returns to the site of his last win Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, where he will roll off the line from a 22nd place qualifying position. Earnhardt posted a 21.636 second time around the three-quarter mile oval. His time was 0.241 seconds slower than pole-sitter Denny Hamlin.

Junior has 3 wins at Richmond, seven top-5s and nine top 10 finishes – he has led 322 laps here.

Tony Eury Jr, crew chief of the No. 88 team, loaded car No. 88-490 on the hauler for Saturday night’s Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 race Richmond. It's the same that Earnhardt drove to at Phoenix last month where he finished seventh.

Dale Jr told the story of his first Richmond win recently, saying "That was a great night. You always remember your first win and hope it's not your last.”

He also noted that his last Cup win came here, “The last time I won was at Richmond seems like forever ago, but I try not to think about it. I don't want to be thinking of how long it's been since a win. Knowing we have a shot at it every week and something or another happens can make it frustrating. We couldn't be doing anything different to prepare -- the team and everyone at Hendrick has been working so hard. It will happen."

Earnhardt made no secret about his love for Saturday night short-track racing. "There is no reason why we shouldn't show up at Richmond this week and run awesome. Short tracks like Richmond fit my driving style. I was used to running at places like Myrtle Beach,” Earnhardt said. “I've learned how to get around short tracks."

Dale Earnhardt Jr at Richmond


• Three wins, seven top fives, nine top 10s
• Average finish of 11.3
• Average Running Position of 12.9, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 89.9, 10th-best
• 96 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
• Series-high 334 Green Flag Passes
• 1,401 (58.4%) Laps in the Top 15, 10th-most
• 124 Quality Passes, eighth-most