The kid may not always live up to everyone’s expectations, but you have to admit, he has a flair for the dramatic.
Five months after his dad died here in 2001, Dale Earnhardt Jr. came back to Daytona and won. The following February, he won the Busch Series race while sporting the No. 3 synonymous with his father.
Friday night, not only with Dale Sr.‘s number, but with Dale Sr.‘s long-ago sponsor and paint scheme, Junior made a lot of people happy. He did it by doing what his iconic father did more than anyone in auto-racing history: He won at Daytona, leading the last 32 laps and capturing the 250-mile Nationwide Series race. Daytona Beach News-Journal
Earnhardt Jr. flew through the finish, then drove his celebratory victory lap with his hand out the window waving at fans. It was Earnhardt Jr.‘s first win in Nationwide since 2006 and was his eighth at Daytona. Earnhardt Jr. has six Nationwide/Busch wins at Daytona as well as two Cup wins.
Dale Earnhardt Sr. died after crashing on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 after driving aggressively to help Earnhardt Jr. and eventual winner Michael Waltrip.
``I feel lucky, real, real lucky to win. If I didn’t win, what a waste of time,’’ Earnhardt said on Victory Lane. ``I did it for Daddy, proud of him for going into the Hall of Fame. This is for his fans. I hope they enjoyed it. No more 3 for me. We won. That’s it.’’ MiamiHerald.com
The Wrangler No. 3 project brought together the sometimes feuding members of the Earnhardt family and team owner Richard Childress, Earnhardt Sr.’s partner in years of success. The car was designed and entered in the race in part to celebrate Earnhardt Sr.’s induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame this year.
Childress hugged Earnhardt Jr. after the win. “He just said that Daddy would be happy, real happy,” Junior said. “I never knew where I stood with Daddy sometimes. He was a loose cannon.”
Tony Eury Jr., who crew-chiefed the car, was in tears after the finish.
“You know we lost everything here,” he said. “To come back with that number and do this, it means everything.”
Earnhardt Jr. outran Logano by .094 of a second for the win. FOXNews
In a race that saw the debut of NASCAR’s new Nationwide Series car, Earnhardt held off runner-up Joey Logano and third-place finisher Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond its scheduled distance of 100 laps.
With a push from Justin Allgaier, Earnhardt took the lead for the first time on Lap 70, surging past Kyle Busch through Turns 1 and 2. On that same lap, NASCAR called a caution for debris on the backstretch. Pitting under the caution, Earnhardt retained his lead, thanks to a quick, problem-free stop by Earnhardt’s No. 88 Sprint Cup crew, which volunteered for the race.
Earnhardt held the top spot through Lap 96, when NASCAR threw a debris caution that set up a two-lap run to the finish. Earnhardt stayed out on old tires, as did seven other contending cars, but Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Trevor Bayne and Ryan Newman came to the pits for tires under the yellow.
The strategy didn’t work for those drivers, as track position proved more beneficial that fresh rubber. Points leader Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick ran fourth and fifth, respectively, on old tires. Keselowski extended his margin in the standings to 277 points over second-place Edwards, who finished 11th Saturday. NASCAR.com
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona - Race-Results
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