Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s day ends early after crash at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Monday ended like a couple other Sundays so far in the NASCAR Monster Energy Series Cup season: signing autographs for fans as other cars roared around on the track.

Earnhardt brushed the wall entering Turn 2 on Lap 219 of the Food City 500 and the underlying engine issue in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led to his third DNF of the season.

“We broke something in the oil system and oil got onto the tires,” Earnhardt told USA TODAY Sports. “We got into the wall.”

Earnhardt was checked and released from the infield care center as part of NASCAR’s mandatory evaluation for any driver forced from a race this season.

“Yeah, it wasn’t that bad; I feel pretty good," Earnhardt said. "Obviously, it wasn’t a real hard lick.  I got the car slowed down a little bit and it really didn’t damage the car too badly.  Had we not had something terminal with the oil system we would have slapped tires on it and kept going.”

Earnhardt, who started Monday’s rain-postponed race 20th in the points standings, was coming off his best finish of the season after he took fifth at O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 9.

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PHOTOS: BEHIND THE WHEEL WITH DALE EARNHARDT JR.