OK, so dropping “From this point of view” means I’m twisting your words? Well, I suppose if you’re going to make excuses for Earnhardt then you might as well make excuses for yourself.

From ANY point of view, Earnhardt caused that wreck. I guess that makes me biased, because I’m not a Junior homer? Truth is, I’m neither a hater nor a fan. Believe it or not, there are some people who are neutral towards Junior. I happen to be one of them. Clearly talented. Clearly his celebrity outstrips his achievements – so far. Plenty of time to make good on that. But the fact you try to demonize me as a hater makes you seem like more of an apologist. Just admit it, it’s fine. People won’t stop reading your blog because you’re a homer. Just be up front about it. But by your standards, when Earnhardt Junior is at fault, it’s because someone’s not a Junior fan, huh? No twisting here, you said it yourself and the whole sentence: reads “I take it you are not a Jr fan.” No, and apparently not a big of one as you.

Oh, and I did read the previous blog (day it was posted, wanted to re-read it but the link’s dead now), but your summary here leaves me puzzled: “needs to get his eyes checked”? Let me avoid twisting: “where I even went as far as to say that maybe Jr needs to get his eyes checked after what happened with him and Vickers.” Had Earnhardt said he accidentally got into Vickers because he had an astigmatism, I’d buy it.

Instead, let’s see what Junior’s own words were, from Speed’s website: http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-earnhardt-vickers-trigger-big-one/ The entirety of Paragraph 6:
Earnhardt predictably saw it differently. "I had a really, really good run and Brian, he was side-by-side with somebody for the lead and I went on the inside and he drove me down," said Earnhardt. "Down almost into the grass below the line, and I didn’t have much control over the car at that point. I was just trying to get back on the race track and I hit him in the quarterpanel and spun him out." Seems like his vision was pretty clear, and that gets us to intent. Had it been a problem of vision, Earnhardt could have copped to his mistake and we’d all move on. He admits to hitting Vickers unapologetically. But, like many before him, he wouldn’t admit to a moment of temper. Earnhardt wasn’t ‘almost into the grass,’ you can see that on replays. He was angry – and we all would be. But instead of taking the lumps for his mistake of judgment – not vision – he made excuses for himself. When his fanbase tries to justify Earnhardt’s actions, that’s when they lose credibility. That’s all I’m calling you out for. No need to get defensive. Just say what’s obvious: Junior screwed up. It’s OK, and the world doesn’t end. He should be punished accordingly and we all move on. But to try to justify or confuse the issue does damage to your credibility. Either be an unabashed homer or try to play it even. But you can’t claim to play it even and be a homer in reality without it coming back on you.

Example: I’m in a fantasy league with a die-hard Carl Edwards fan. And at ‘Dega last year, he put some drivel up on our message board about how Edwards was forced up into Biffle. And what did we do? We called him on it. It’s homerism, plain and simple. So’s your post. You’re called on it.

More evidence? Your words: “So clearly my intentention was to state that if NASCAR started the race earlier then drivers like Dale Jr and Brian Vickers would not have been in the position they were in trying to get back on the lead lap and hope for the caution flag to fly so they can back into the mix of things before the rain hit and the eventual red flag. It was the situation that NASCAR put these drivers in that led to the wreck – it could have been any driver put in the postions of Vickers and Jr, it just happened to be them thats all.” Yes, anyone could have been put in that position. I grant you that point – you’re right. But how many times have we seen one driver block another below the yellow? Plenty. How many times did they wreck? A few. And each time, save this one, the hammer came down on the offending driver. So why are we blaming someone else for Junior’s misdeeds? He made a mistake, and again it was one of judgment. Let’s make sure we’re clear here. You’ve got a soft spot for Junior. I don’t care either way. So maybe you’re looking at him with rose-colored glasses as a proxy for his dad. I guarantee you this, though, from someone who admired his dad: Senior would have turned Vickers to the infield, not towards the rest of the field. Then none of this happens.

Stand by your words all you want, doesn’t make them any more correct.