Dave Martin / AP

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still mad after a NASCAR penalty for cussing on camera after winning last week's race.

updated 5:42 p.m. ET Oct. 10, 2004

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still smarting from the penalty that knocked him out of first place in the NASCAR’s Nextel Cup series for cursing during a live TV interview last weekend.

The sanctioning organization hit Junior hard, fining him $10,000 and, more important, docking him 25 points. The latter left him 12 points behind new leader Kurt Busch entering Sunday’s Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway.

“I understand that it was a mistake,” Earnhardt said after qualifying eighth for Sunday’s race. “It wasn’t anything that I intentionally planned to say. It just think the punishment was a little bit more severe than the crime.

“But that’s only my opinion. I don’t think what I believe is always correct. Obviously, if that was the case, I’d never have found myself in this situation. But I felt a little bit thrown under the bus and know I’m getting a little bit dragged out and everybody wants to know how I feel about it and I don’t know.”

Viewers in nearly 7 million homes were able to hear Earnhardt use a vulgarity when he was asked about the significance of his fifth victory at Talladega.

His team has appealed the points portion of the penalty, but Earnhardt, racing for his first championship, said the penalty has taught him a lesson.

“I just learned to control myself better,” he said. “It’s kind of difficult in those situations. It’s really hard, actually — especially when you win a race like that. But that’s the rules and, unfortunately, we’ve got to play by every one of them, not just a few.”

NASCAR had little choice in hitting Earnhardt with the same penalty it meted out earlier this year to Busch Series drivers Johnny Sauter and Ron Hornaday. But Earnhardt hopes that will change in the future.

“I told NASCAR that in my opinion, if not this time but the next time for the next guy, change the penalty,” he said. “Make it $100,000, $200,000. Taking points off the scoreboard, whether it’s fair or not, is not something I believe in.”

In reaction to Earnhardt’s slip of the tongue and in light of the FCC cracking down on objectionable content on radio and TV, both NBC and the Motor Racing Network, which airs most of the Cup races on radio, will now use delays on their live broadcasts.

Earnhardt, tied with four-time champion Jeff Gordon for the series lead with five victories this season, said he needs to focus on racing now.

“We’ll concentrate real hard and we want to do the best job we can for our fans,” he said. “I want to apologize to my fans that they had to see me lose 25 points and we have to work harder. I’m sure it didn’t make their day any easier when they went to work and their buddies who pull for Jeff Gordon got to enjoy that a little bit.”