July 7, 2010
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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It was one heck of a weekend for a man with a lot of history at the "World Center of Motorsports".
Richard Childress smiled proudly Saturday night as he celebrated his second victory in as many days.
While it isn't a position he has been in a lot recently, he has been there an awful lot in the past.
Dating back to 1986, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has won seven poles and owns 27 total victories at the most storied race track on the circuit. RCR owns two Daytona 500 wins, with Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s memorable win in 1998 and Kevin Harvick taking the title in 2007.
Until the wee hours of Sunday morning, there were two Coke Zero 400 trophies, both won by Earnhardt (1990, 1993) and 13 qualifying races, including ten straight victories with Earnhardt between 1990 and 1999.
Saturday night, the RCR No. 29 car driven by Harvick won the Coke Zero 400 after surviving a wreck-filled race. As the final laps approached it seemed inevitable that it would be a RCR car winning the race. On the final re-start, Clint Bowyer was first and Harvick second, with Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne right behind them. The third RCR car, Jeff Burton, was right behind them.
CIA Stock Photos
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Kahne Chases Harvick To Finish Line
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By the time they completed the first lap of the green-white-checkered finish, Harvick had taken the lead with Kahne second, Burton third and Gordon fourth. Despite a spin by Bowyer on the back stretch coming to the checkered flag, no caution came out, and Harvick was able to hold off Kahne for the win.
"This has been a great place for us," Harvick said after the race. "Daytona has been one of those magical places for us ever since we started coming here."
His boss agrees.
“Kevin’s just becoming one of these guys, when it’s restrictor-plate racing, he’s kind of like Dale Sr.-- you knew he was going to be a factor in it.”
I asked Richard how much this weekend meant with winning the Nationwide race with Dale Earnhardt Jr. driving the No. 3 Wrangler throwback car and Harvick winning the 400, considering his history at Daytona with Dale Sr.
"Well, Daytona is really special, and like Kevin said, any time you win at Daytona it's really special," Childress said. "I'm fortunate to have won a lot of races with Dale (Senior) here, won one 500 with him in '98, come back and win with Kevin in 2007. You know, it was real special.
"And last night was a special deal put together through JR Motorsports and Kelly, and my involvements with being with the 3 and being in there and going and meeting with them and talking and putting that deal together was special.
"To see him win the race was real special to see the 3 on the board. It brought back a lot of memories, not only to me but to all the race fans. Had all kind of texts and messages and everything from people how proud they were to see it back out there racing.
"Comparing Kevin, you just watch how he runs these speedway races, he has that knack of knowing how to run on these speedway races."
Kevin chimed in at this point to comment about Friday night’s race. "The coolest part (Friday) night was the reaction from Tony, Jr., on the pit box. I don't know if you've seen it, but that was the best part for me."
Childress nodded. "It was an emotional deal for a lot of people. I know a lot of people called in and texted and stuff about how emotional it was."
Harvick commented that there is something very special about being just a small part of the history that has made up all that is "Daytona".
"I think this racetrack is obviously the most historic racetrack that we race on, and I think if that asphalt could talk, you can go back and look at all the stories," Harvick saod. "But it's just such a neat deal to be able to win the last race on that particular asphalt. It's going to be a lot different race when we come back. Any time you can win, though, whether it's new asphalt or old asphalt, it's always going to be the baddest place to win, and that's Daytona."
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