Video: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Has Eventful End to South Carolina 400, Receives Two Tail-End Penalties for Two Seperate Incidents

UPDATE: The closing stages of Saturday’s South Carolina 400 at Florence Speedway have become unnecessarily aggressive, which has resulted in the second tail-end of the longest line “avoidable contact” penalty for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the race’s final 50 laps.

This time, it was for an incident with Landon Pembelton, after rebounding from the first tail-end of the longest line penalty to be in fourth place. This crash happened in turn one, when Earnhardt got loose underneath the No. 0, getting into the left rear and spinning Pembelton around.

The accident occurred with three laps of racing to go, setting the field up for another dash to the finish, in order to settle the South Carolina 400.

This one's not over!@lbpem0 gets turned around by @DaleJr with three to go.

It'll be @03Butterbean leading with @Carson_Kvapil to his outside.@FloRacing | @FlorenceMSpdwy pic.twitter.com/odFsibk8r9

— NASCAR Regional (@NASCARRegional) November 20, 2022

There isn’t a single person that has had a more eventful South Carolina 400 than Dale Earnhardt Jr. – at least that was the case when this incident originally happened.

However, if he even wants the opportunity to earn a solid finish at the end of the night, he’ll need to rebound from the tail end of the pack, after being penalized by NASCAR officials for avoidable contact.

While battling for third place with Matthew Cox, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got into the left rear of the No. 51, which ultimately led to the Late Model driver getting spun down the backstretch, and making pretty significant contact with the inside wall.

Caution with 13 to go:@mattcox51 gets turned by @DaleJr on the backstretch, who is subsequently penalized by race control.@masondiazracing leads @SamYarbrough20 @FlorenceMSpdwy | @FloRacing pic.twitter.com/aHzKzf90BE

— NASCAR Regional (@NASCARRegional) November 20, 2022

While the contact wasn’t intentional by any means – a notion backed up by Cox in a post-crash interview – the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver was penalized by officials for avoidable contact, sending him to the rear of the field.

The penalty is the third notable event to happen to Earnhardt on Saturday, the first two of which were insane wreck avoidance in the early portions of the 200-lap contest.

Video: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Narrowly Avoids 10-Car Pileup in Early Stages of South Carolina 400

Video: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Makes ANOTHER Masterful Wreck Avoidance in South Carolina 400 at Florence