Favorite Earnhardt Jr. covets Daytona victory

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes for another celebration Sunday. Credit: Autostock

It took the elder Earnhardt 17 tries to win NASCAR's biggest event, although he came close several times. Junior doesn't plan to wait that long, yet he's somewhat amazed to be in position to do it on his fourth try.

"The strange thing about it for me, though, is that I have a chance to win it so early, and Dad came in for years and years," the 28-year-old scion said.

Earnhardt Jr. pointed out that his father didn't have a strong ride here for most of his early years and didn't become a real contender until his second stint driving for Richard Childress began in 1984.

After that, Earnhardt became a dominant force at Daytona, winning every preliminary race and the July Cup race multiple times. But he couldn't seem to make the magic happen in the race he wanted most.

In 1990, The Intimidator was leading until running over a piece of metal and blowing a tire with half a lap to go. That gave the victory to Derrick Cope and broke Earnhardt's heart again.

"I was a teenager and I remember how hard it was and, I mean, it hurt," Junior said. "When he cut the tire in front of Cope that year, those were tough, tough times. It was awful. It just ruined the whole deal."

The heartache he saw and felt over his dad's near-misses, and the joy he experienced when his father finally won, have made the season-opening race just as special to Junior.

"Going through that, I realize how big this race is," he said.

Acknowledging his role as the favorite, Junior added, "I'm probably going to look back 10 or 15 years from now and wish I had a chance to do it all over again if I don't win this race because I'm going to have all this experience and go, 'Man, what the heck?'

"Hopefully, I'll win it and I won't have to worry about that."

If he does win Sunday, it will take more than pure speed.

NASCAR requires carburetor restrictor plates at Daytona to keep the cars under 200 mph, an effort to make the race safer for drivers and spectators.

An unwanted side-effect of the horsepower-sapping plates is bunching the field in huge packs with cars drafting two- and three-wide at up to 190 mph. A spectacular multicar crash is virtually a given during races here and at Talladega Superspeedway, the only other track where the plates are used.

"All it takes is to lose your focus for a moment," said two-time Daytona 500 winner and four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. "It's hard to hold your breath for three hours, but that's what it feels like."

NASCAR's solution to pack racing is a small fuel cell, forcing the cars to pit more often and, hopefully, stringing out the field. The tanks -- 13 gallons as opposed to the usual 22 -- were first used last fall at Talladega and the results were mixed.

Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying races were the first time the drivers got to see the effects of the smaller tank on Daytona's 21/2-mile oval. It was the first time in more than a decade that a pit stop was needed in the 50-lap races.

Jeff Green will start at the front of the 43-car field alongside Earnhardt Jr., who won his qualifier. Green finished second to teammate Robby Gordon in his 125, losing the lead when Gordon outbraked him coming in for their pit stops.

"It's so much a different track than Talladega. Handling comes into play so much here," Green said. "It really pushes the front end off the corner and, if your car is handling, that singles cars out, too. It's going to get down to maybe 10 cars you have to race instead of 40."

If that scenario develops, it's likely the cars at the front will include Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Michael Waltrip, as well as Richard Childress Racing drivers Green and Robby Gordon.

The elder Earnhardt won all but one of his championships while driving for Childress, and he and his car owner always put a particular emphasis on the plate races.

DEI was founded by the elder Earnhardt, who continued to drive for Childress until his death, and it has placed the same priority on the Daytona and Talladega events.

Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip have combined for six wins in the last eight plate races, with Junior winning the 2001 July race at Daytona and the last three 500-milers at Talladega. Waltrip won the 2001 Daytona 500 and added a victory here in July 2002.

There's no guarantee, though, that those two teams, which also include RCR's Kevin Harvick and DEI's Steve Park, will dominate Sunday.

Tony Stewart, the 2002 Winston Cup champion, will begin defense of that title in a race in which he has failed to finish better than 17th in four tries. He was the favorite last year, but his engine blew up after two laps and he wound up last.

Other contenders in the big field are Jeff Gordon and other former Daytona winners Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott and Ward Burton, last year's winner.

The Roush Racing trio of Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth can't be overlooked, either. Martin finished second to Stewart in points; Busch finished the season as the hottest driver, winning three of the last five races; and Kenseth led the 2002 series with five wins.

Then there are last year's rookie stars, Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson, both of whom finished in the top six in points.

The lineup also includes Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd, winless here in 20 and 25 starts. Six rookies also dot the field, including Brazilian Indy-car star Christian Fittipaldi, 2002 Busch Series champion Greg Biffle, three-time Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague, and Jamie McMurray, who ran a handful of races last year and won in his second start, the quickest victory in NASCAR history.

Wallace starts 38th, 30 positions lower than he thought he would be. His team was fined $10,000 and his car disqualified from his qualifying race for an illegal carburetor.

The "REAL" racer TONY STEWART will win the Datona 500 by patience, skill, experiance and a WILL to finish FIRST.

I think it is becoming the WWW. Watch them let dale jr win again. Theres no reason for his car to be that much faster then all the others.
Last year he was able to pull away from the pack any time he wanted. But he would slow down and let the others catch up to make it look real, then he was able to put 6 car lenghts on the others.
The same thing is happening this year. At that bud shootout last sat. he was able to do the same thing, pull 4-6 car lengths ahead any time he wanted.

Tony Stewart will win a trip to the wall, with a bunch of spinning first....Be cool to see him get airborne tho

Go Little E!

I wonder why little E has such a faster car when Nascar is supposed to try and keep them all fairly equal?... Why is his car so much faster than other Chevy teams?.... as far as driving ability little E is a joke!

Earnhardt Poised to Sparkle at Daytona

14 minutes ago

By MIKE HARRIS, AP Motorsports Writer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Dale Earnhardt (news - web sites) Jr. is on the verge of doing something his father never did at Daytona: a Speed Weeks sweep.

AP Photo

Junior put himself in position for the sweep by winning Saturday's Koolerz 300 Busch Series race for the second straight year.

He is the first driver to win back-to-back Busch races here since his late father got his fifth in a row in 1994.

This was also Junior's third victory at Daytona International Speedway in eight days, including the Bud Shootout and a 125-mile qualifying race for Sunday's Daytona 500.

Three times, Dale Earnhardt Sr. won all the preliminary races, only to come up short in the Daytona 500 — a race he didn't win until his 20th try. Now, his son is poised for a sweep during Speed Weeks — something no one else has accomplished in NASCAR (news - web sites)'s modern era beginning in 1972.

"I'm a little nervous because nobody's ever done it," Junior said, when asked about winning them all. "It doesn't bode well for tomorrow, but we've got a good car and we'll go in with a good attitude."

The only competition Earnhardt hasn't won this week is pole qualifying for Sunday's race. He'll start second, beside Jeff Green, but he still goes in as the favorite to win NASCAR's biggest race.

"With the success we've had up to this point this Speed Weeks, we've got to be the favorite," Earnhardt said.

The only time a driver has had a clean sweep during Daytona's Speed Weeks came under a different format in 1962 when Glenn "Fireball" Roberts won four races: the Daytona 500; a special event called "The Race of Champions"; a 25-lap race to decide the pole for the 500; and a 100-mile qualifying race.

In Saturday's race, Earnhardt got out front just before the halfway point and stayed there. A four-car accident two laps from the end put the 120-lap, 300-mile race under a caution flag for the final trip around the 2 1/2-mile oval, with Earnhardt's No. 8 Chevrolet driving slowly across the finish line behind the pace car.

"It feels great," Earnhardt said. "We're having a great time. I'm happy, happy, happy! We're winning a bunch of races.

"There's still one to go."

Earnhardt, only an occasional starter in the Busch Series, took the lead from Kevin Harvick in the leaders' pit stops during a caution period on lap 54. He led the rest of the way and was never really challenged.

Saturday's win gives Junior five total race victories at Daytona, including the 2001 Pepsi 400. But the third-generation driver is still far behind his father's Daytona-record 34 wins. The elder Earnhardt won the Busch race seven times.

Harvick came back to finish third, despite a penalty — for leaving the pits with a gas catchcan stuck in the car — that sent him all the way to 30th place on lap 81.

"You can't make a mistake and expect to beat the best of the best," he said.

Junior averaged 143.770 mph on the way to his 16th Busch Series victory. It was also the 28-year-old driver's third victory in his last four Busch starts. He was the series champion in 1998 and 1999 before moving up to the Winston Cup series.

It was his second win as a team owner.

"This (car) is my little baby, in a way," Earnhardt said, grinning. "I'm real proud of my team. None of them have a whole lot of experience and they were real nervous about making some kind of a mistake on pit road.

"I got behind Kevin early in the race and couldn't get past him," he added. "I knew I needed to get out front to win and I kept getting two tires all the race. It was something I did last year and it worked out great."

With the late crash shaking up the top 10, Mike Wallace wound up fourth, followed by Jamie McMurray, Todd Bodine, Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Kasey Kahne.

Green was subbing for pole-winner Joe Nemechek, who sat out the race with the flu. Green, who started from the back of the pack, saw his day end when Scott Riggs bumped him from behind and sent his car spinning into the wall.

Michael Waltrip also was a victim of someone else's mistake. Jimmy Vasser, riding at the top of a three-wide draft, bounced off the wall and hit Randy Lajoie, who slammed into Waltrip and sent him hard into the wall.

Stacy Compton had the most spectacular crash of the day. He banged the outside wall coming off turn four and the engine compartment and underside of his car burst into flames. The fire continued to roar and the smoke bellow out until Compton got the car stopped in the infield grass nearly halfway down the back straightaway.

All the drivers except Keller were checked and released in the infield medical center. Keller underwent tests at a nearby hospital for a possible concussion but was later released.

I don't know that he is that much faster. Getting in the front and running in clean air is part of his success, also I like the way he drives a track line-wise. I'm pulling for Jeff Gordon to remedy the outcome of the Shootout myself.

Should be a damn good race. I hate the restrictor plates tho.

I'll add you to the ping list I'm building.

It's the same reason we own in War. We have focused on the business of making war for so long we are 3-4 car lengths ahead of others.

DEI focused on Restrictor plate tracks, hence them dispaying the reward of that focus, as big W's in the columns.

Just as we are 2-3 Generations ahead of Iraq in our military, DEI is 2-3 Car lengths ahead of other cars on Restrictor plate Tracks.

We'll see how the season goes, if Jr develops patientce (sp, it's late) on the Track, he will rival his Dad and the King in the long run.

Can't Wait for the engines to start!!!!

PREDICTION FROM A CASUAL NASCAR WATCHER:

Three laps from the finish, the pack leaders will be involved in a massive tangle-up. No injuries, but it'll take a dozen cars off the track.

The last two laps will be run under caution with all contestants holding their position.

The winner will be some lucky goob in the Vagisil car crossing the line at 83.765 mph.

(flame bait)

33 guys driving around in a circle. Whoopee.

(/flame bait)

If we're lucky, there'll be 33 cars left.. out of 43 starting. ;-)

Sorry, I got it confused with Indy.

Thanks , I too can't hardly wait for the green flag! Bogity!Bogity!Bogity!

He has about 25 more horses than anybody. I predict NASCAR will discover "HOW" and I'll bet it is illeagle!!! We know it is pure H.P. by watching the start of each race.

*** NASCAR Daytona 500 *** FoX 9:45 AM PT 1245 PM ET 2/16