The Pressure Is Off, Earnhardt Wins Shootout

February 10, 2008
By Ron Felix

Earnhardt Celebrates * Getty Images for NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wouldn't admit it but since the deal was announced last year that he was going to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) to drive for Hendrick Motorsports, the pressure on him has been tremendous. He realized that he was under the gun to win for his new employer and on Saturday night at Daytona International Raceway -- he did just that. Although it was not a points paying Sprint Cup race, the feeling of jubilation of winning washed away all the fears that go with leaving the company that his father had built.

Earnhardt led a record 47 of the seventy laps to record his second Budweiser Shootout victory. He took the lead in the first segment on lap seven and held on to the point for the final 13 circuits. In the second segment, Earnhardt swapped the lead with Dave Blaney, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Although Earnhardt was shuffled back several times, he fought his way back to the front.

Late in the race, it looked like Stewart had the car to beat and was leading with nine to go. A final caution with six laps to go saw some cars pitting -- but the top nine cars stayed on the track. On the restart with three laps to go, Stewart was the leader and Earnhardt was on the outside. Earnhardt took the lead with one to go and held off a hard charging Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart for the win.

"That was fun," said Earnhardt. "The Shootout is a neat race. I had a blast those last few laps. I got some great help from my teammates. I didn't win the race without Jimmie (Johnson) pushing me. Thanks to him and Chad (Knaus) and those guys for working real hard to get that car ready. Thanks to my team, we had a great pit stop, got us out second. I hope the fans enjoyed that. Wow, man that was fun. I am so happy. My new team. Victory lane, it doesn't get any better."

The victory was worth $210,000 for Earnhardt but more importantly it gave him the much needed confidence that he desperately wanted. This win could easily propel him toward an elusive championship.

Earnhardt says the slingshot is back in restrictor plate racing.

“I got it used a couple of times on me and I was able to make it happen," said Earnhardt. "It looks like it. I had a really, really good race car. That was 50 percent race car and 50 percent teammate. This is great for us, man. This is exactly what we needed coming out of the gate. We’ve had such a long off-season. This makes it all worth it.”

Stewart held on for second and Johnson pushed his way to third place.

“I felt like Fred Flintstone in this thing trying to get this short track car to go," said Johnson. "We had a great effort. The car really drove well and that’s what kept me in the game. I made some smart moves and good decisions and was up there racing with the guys. It was a lot of fun racing with those guys. Tony (Stewart) had a great car. Jeff (Gordon) had a great car. We came from the back a couple of times. I just had a lot of fun out there. I’m glad to see we had a pretty clean race and I’m definitely happy for Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. getting his victory in his first time in a Hendrick car.”

Jeff Gordon finished a solid fourth.

“It was fun. It’s just really wild how you get momentum in these cars and you’ve just got to maintain that momentum," Gordon offered. "You get in one line and you think that one is going to work and then you get in another line and see if that one is going to work. Obviously handling is going to be an issue over the long runs, but I had a lot of fun pushing my teammates and I had a lot of fun passing them. So it’s just one of those things where it’s the Bud Shootout and you’ve got to go for it and go for the win. And we were going for it as well as everybody else out there. I’m really happy for Dale Jr. It’s awesome to have him at Hendrick Motorsports and I’m real proud of those guys to do that in their first race out.”

Even Tony Stewart was in a good mood after another second place finish to Earnhardt Jr.

“I’m pretty happy," said Stewart. "It’s hard to beat Dale Jr. (Earnhardt). He’s one of the best restrictor-plate drivers there’s ever been. He learned a lot from his dad and I’m not sure that he’s not better than his dad, in all honesty, now.

"We can’t be disappointed. We were climbing an uphill battle there on the bottom. It was fun and it’s fun when you get around guys you trust like that. It made it a lot of fun tonight.

“For the first race with a new car at this track, I think the race was pretty exciting no matter where you were on the track. It seemed really important to be up toward the front. It seemed like it was a lot easier on tires where you could get more air on the car and help yourself out with the aero down-force as much as the mechanical grip. It was just a matter of trying to keep track position. When you run second to Dale Jr. like that, you can’t be discouraged by any means. I think he’s probably the best restrictor-plate driver that’s ever lived. To run with him and the Hendrick guys like that -- I thought we fought a good fight tonight.”

Reed Sorenson finished fifth followed by Casey Mears, Dave Blaney, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne to round out the top ten.

For full final race results...     (Insider Racing News)

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web Insiderracingnews.com