Dale Jr. tells Noah Gragson that Road America action was ‘crossing the line’

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he was “shocked” that JR Motorsports driver Noah Gragson wrecked Sage Karam in last weekend’s Xfinity race at Road America that damaged 13 cars.

Earnhardt, co-owner of JR Motorsports, made the comments Wednesday on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Earnhardt expressed his disappointment in Gragson’s actions.

“I was disappointed and absolutely planned to discuss that with Noah and I have this week,” Earnhardt said of his discussion with Gragson on Tuesday. “Basically my message to Noah is that he needs to take that out of his toolbox. … He cannot be intentionally turning into guys on the straightaway.”

Gragson said Wednesday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR’s Radio “On Track” that “I made a mistake and hope not to make that mistake again.”

Gragson also stated on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he expected NASCAR to announce a penalty against him later Wednesday. He noted that “we have the personnel to regroup and try to go win Atlanta and get some of the points back.”

Earnhardt said he stressed to Gragson that such actions may hurt his chances of securing a Cup ride.

“He wants to get to the Cup level, and we want to help him get there,” Earnhardt said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “Whether he’s driving a Cup car for us one day or someone else, when he makes those type of decisions, and this is what I told him, I said ‘You’re hurting that opportunity, you’re tarnishing, staining your reputation.’ And that’s the last thing you want to do when you’re trying to get job offers.

“And I told him that I could stand behind him through just about anything, but I could not defend that. And that’s a difficult thing for me. That’s a difficult position for me.”

Earnhardt also said that Gragson’s actions were