JUNIOR — OR HIS COLD — TO BLAME?

The contact between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers late in Sunday’s Daytona 500 that took out nine cars, including several contenders, has rubbed many race fans as abrasively as a new pair of Wrangler denims chews up a fat boy’s thighs.

I speak from experience.

It will be the main topic of discussion for at least a week in the NASCAR world instead of the warm-and-fuzzy story created by Matt Kenseth when he won the rain-shortened 500 and gave team co-owner Jack Roush his first 500 win.

Our poll question today at http://www.lvrj.com/ is who caused the wreck: Earnhardt or Vickers? Of course, you can share your comment here.

I vote for Earnhardt. It was not his best day.

He missed his pit stall on a caution stop 60 laps into the race. He blamed his mistake on having a pink pit sign that was supposed to make it easier for him to see, but he said other teams used pink. Not a popular color in NASCAR, you’d think.

On a later pit stop he stopped with his right front tire about 1 inch on the outside out-of-bounds line and he was penalized one lap.

He said, "A lap for that is ridiculous. If somebody's pitting outside the box, what's the big gain that they need a lap taken from them?"

Junior, out of bounds is out of bounds.

That put him a lap down and put him inside of the leading cars on the restart. And behind Vickers.

Earnhardt said in a Fox post-race interview with Dick Berggren that he had a run on Vickers and Vickers came low to block him. Both were fighting to be the first car a lap down and get the “lucky dog” free lap and return to the lead lap the next time a caution flag came out.

Vickers’ move forced Earnhardt to go below the yellow line and when Earnhardt moved onto to the track he clipped Vickers’ left rear which spun Vickers into the oncoming leaders.

Among the nine cars collected was Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 88 laps before the melee ended his night. Had Busch done what Earnhardt did Busch would have been roasted by fans for being a dangerous driver.

But not Earnhardt. Not Junior.

In Earnhardt’s defense, he declined to be interviewed by ESPN on pit road right before the Nationwide race began Saturday. He said he was too sick, although he was able to chat with sponsors and VIPs that huddled with him near his car.

He coughed when interviewed by Berggren after the 500. Even coughed a few times.

Maybe Earnhardt was under the weather before Sunday’s race and took some over-the-counter cold medicine or he was sick enough to be confused.

A foggy mind could explain missing his pit stall, stopping for another one out of bounds and not being prepared to have Vickers aggressively defend his position before the “big one” took place.

I’ll share an e-mail from reader Dave C. (I withhold his last name to ensure his safety):

“The actions of Earnhardt on Sunday were so far out of line that he should be set down for at least one week.

“I’m tired of hearing all the announcers (except Jimmy Spencer) make excuses for him. Spencer was the only one to say he deliberately clipped Vickers who had blocked him clean.

“Time after time Mike Helton and the NASCAR spotters look the other way when Earnhardt is involved. OK, maybe sitting him down for a week isn't right so let's just let him (not team owner Rick Hendrick) pay for the repairs to every one of the cars involved in the crash.

“I'm a fan who used to race for a living and a hobby and anyone with even a little bit of class will stand up and admit when they screw up unless his name is Earnhardt Jr.; even Earnhardt Sr. would admit when he stepped over the line.

“While I'm at it, if I hear old DW (Darrell Waltrip) call him "Junebug" one more time I may get sick; Junebug is OK for a kid who is 6-10 years old but not when he is over 30.”

Now go to http://www.lvrj.com/ to vote on whether Earnhardt or Vickers is most responsible for causing the big crash.

And if Earnhardt garners the most blame it will be the biggest upset in NASCAR history.