Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows better than most that a yellow line can turn a Talladega victory into a controversy. In the 2003 Aaron’s 499, he made a dramatic late-race pass on Matt Kenseth that took him below the double-yellow line, but NASCAR ruled he had already completed the pass and let him keep the win. More than two decades later, the same rule is back under scrutiny after Kyle Larson’s controversial Talladega victory. With fans questioning why NASCAR penalizes some drivers but lets others go, Dale Jr. is offering a different perspective.

“And yes, calls get missed. They get missed in any sport. But you know that NASCAR has somebody on the side reviewing. Maybe they’re not getting missed. Maybe they’d think that nobody needed to be penalized. That’s my point is like maybe they watched this race and said, ‘We’re good with all those,’” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the Dale Jr. Download podcast.

The former O’Reilly Series champion is asking fans to consider another possibility amid the uproar over NASCAR’s decisions at Talladega: what looks like a missed call from the grandstands might be a deliberate decision after review. That does not mean officials are infallible.

He believes viewers should not automatically assume NASCAR overlooked every apparent violation, especially when officials have reviewed the incidents and allowed the results to stand.

The debate erupted after Kyle Larson won the YellaWood 500 following a dramatic last-lap charge. Larson passed Todd Gilliland in the tri-oval near the finish, with images and video prompting questions about whether the No. 5 Chevrolet had crossed the double-yellow line in doing so. NASCAR reviewed the move and upheld the result, maintaining that Larson’s left-side tires had not gone fully below the line.

But Larson was not the only driver whose final-lap actions drew scrutiny. Austin Hill’s No. 33 Chevrolet also went below the line while battling Larson in Turn 2. Later, Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar dipped below it while racing Todd Gilliland. With no penalties issued, questions quickly shifted from what the drivers had done to how NASCAR was evaluating each incident.

NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde addressed the controversy on Hauler Talk, explaining that officials had reviewed the incidents during the race and conducted a fuller post-race debrief. In Larson’s case, the decision came down to tire placement. Forde said officials determined the left-side tires had not gone completely below the double-yellow line, so the violation required for a penalty had not occurred.

Forde also laid out the factors NASCAR considers when assessing a potential violation. Officials look at whether a driver went below the line, whether the move improved their position, and whether the driver was forced down by another competitor. That means an apparent dip below the line does not automatically result in a black flag.

Hill’s incident brought another consideration to light. NASCAR judged that Hill moved below the line before Larson pushed him down. However, Hill had already fallen to the last car on the lead lap, so a black flag would not have changed his finishing position. Forde said officials discussed the possibility but ultimately did not issue the penalty.

The incident involving Gilliland was less clear-cut. NASCAR determined that Chastain and Hocevar had been forced below the line, so they were not penalized. Officials considered penalizing Gilliland but could not conclusively determine whether he had deliberately moved down to block them. Forde acknowledged that this was the closest call of the group and that officials had debated whether they should have acted.

Those explanations offer some context for Dale Jr.’s argument. NASCAR did not simply ignore the incidents; officials discussed them and made judgments about the circumstances. Still, the explanation has not settled the debate, particularly because the different outcomes have raised questions about how consistently the rule is being applied.

Denny Hamlin was among the most vocal critics after The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck shared his takeaways from Hauler Talk. Hamlin called the situation “horrible officiating or horrible comms,” questioning why intent appeared to matter in Gilliland’s case when he believed NASCAR had previously said it did not.

Other drivers also raised concerns about the rule’s clarity. Ryan Blaney questioned how much of a tire must cross the line before officials consider it a violation, while Joey Logano suggested Larson may have forced Hill below the line without deliberately seeking an advantage. Their comments reflect the same frustration: drivers and fans want a standard they can understand and apply consistently.

Dale Jr.’s point is not that NASCAR’s decisions should escape scrutiny. Rather, he wants fans to leave room for the possibility that a non-call is the outcome of a review, not proof that officials missed something obvious. After Talladega, that distinction may not convince everyone, but it adds one more voice to a controversy that is far from over.