Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to the defense of Lee Pulliam following the driver’s mishap on a late restart in last Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Martinsville. 

Pulliam, who was piloting the No. 9 JR Motorsports car, restarted second with 17 laps to go. As the field took the green, Pulliam missed a shift, which triggered a massive multi-car crash behind him.

The incident took out a number of drivers, including fellow JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil. While there were critics of Pulliam’s mistake, Earnhardt Jr. took up for his driver in the most recent episode of “The Dale Jr. Download.”

While defending Pulliam, however, the JR Motorsports owners conceded that he’s biased towards his driver.

Dale Jr. on Lee Pulliam incident: ‘I must be biased’

On his podcast, Earnhardt Jr. said Pulliam attempted to go from second to third gear, but made a mistake.

That error was crucial for the drivers behind him as it caused an accordion effect and destroyed multiple racecars. 

Austin Green was one who criticized Pulliam for the mistake. Green, who was taken out of the race and finished 29th, said that if a driver cannot shift, they “don’t know what we’re doing here” in the O’Reilly Series.

Earnhardt Jr. was straightforward about the incident, saying that Pulliam knew it was a mistake, therefore making it pointless to harp on the driver.

However, he acknowledges he is speaking on the matter while being the owner of JR Motorsports.

“I must be biased. … He knows he [expletive] up. It’s all right there in front of us. There’s no denying it. There’s no hiding from it,” Earnhardt Jr. said.

Earnhardt Jr., who competed in the Cup Series from 2000-2017, might have had a conversation with a driver who missed a shift. Yet, the 51-year-old said he would not publicly shame them for it.

“If I’m a driver and a guy misses a shift, I go over to his car and say, ‘Hey bud, what was that?’ Maybe I offer him some advice about what I do to try and not miss shifts. I’m not going to go out and publicly go, ‘Damn, that dummy missed a shift,’ because I might be the dummy next week that misses a shift,” Earnhardt Jr. said.

Dale Jr. on Austin Green: ‘Don’t have any business talking’ 

Earnhardt Jr. took exception to Green’s comments about Pulliam following Saturday’s race. 

While the 26-time Cup Series race winner praised Green for his talent, he does not believe the 25-year-old should be speaking on a driver the caliber of Pulliam.

“Austin Green is a hell of a racecar driver. He’s doing a lot in this car, he’s impressing people — I would walk that back just a little bit, because I think Austin Green don’t have any business talking about Lee Pulliam when you line the statistics up and the accomplishments. Like, what are we doing?” 

Earnhardt Jr. circled back to knowing he favoritizes Pulliam, given that he was piloting a JR Motorsports driver.

While saying he “hates” being biased, Earnhardt Jr. conceded he could have made similar comments to Green’s if he were in the same scenario.

“I’m absolutely biased. I’m biased. I get it, I’m biased. If I’m Austin Green, I probably say the [expletive] same thing. I probably do. … I hate being biased. I hate it, because I try really hard not to be,” Earnhardt Jr. said.

Pulliam finished Saturday’s race fifth and led 40 laps in the event. As of now, the 37-year-old has no upcoming starts in the O’Reilly Series in 2026.