Earnhardt Jr. Victory - Just What The Doctor Ordered

February 11, 2008

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

As a sports fan, the last week has been pretty monumental. I have been a football fan 30 years longer than I have been a NASCAR fan, and have been a Dolphins fan for every day of that. So when the New England Patriots threatened to take away the one shred of dignity I had left after this season, I had to root for the New York Giants. It seemed like a loosing battle, but somehow, the Giants pulled it out, and David slew Goliath.

Fast forward a week and move to Daytona. Watching practice Friday night for the Bud Shootout, things did not look good that we would survive the race without taking out half the 23 car field. The 24, 48, 2, and 21 cars were back-up cars. The 24 car was a Darlington car, the 48 a Richmond car, and the 2 was a Martinsville car. If nothing else, Saturday night proved that you can take the new car and use it anywhere effectively.

Because Kurt Bush had to go to the backup car, the 2 car, which had been on the pole, dropped to the back, allowing the 55 car to move to the pole position. It was almost symbolic, after the year that Michael Waltrip had in 2007, for the 55 to lead the pack to the green flag. Last year, the 44 had done just that, and then faded to the back within a lap. This year, Mikey showed the Toyotas were there to race, and he not only didn’t fall back, he pulled away. For the first segment, he stayed in first or second place, and raced door to door with his former teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., for several laps.

I know several people who were on pins and needles to see how Junior would do with his new team right out of the box. It seems their concerns were unfounded. Junior not only pushed to the front, he stayed there. Right behind him, his teammates in their back-up cars. To his left, a row of Toyotas. At one point, you had all four Hendrick Motorsports cars nose to tail in the top lane, and to their left, the 20, 22, and 55 keeping pace with them.

If that wasn’t an image that summed up the entire off-season, nothing did.

In the end, the 55 had problems being “bouncy and pushy”, and faded to 11th. We saw a first, in recent memory, when the 21 car blew a tire -- and stopped at the top of turn one. Physics rules state that in order to remain at a banking of 30-degrees or more, centrifugal force must be in play, which means cars must maintain a speed of at least 65 mph. Somehow, the track did not self clean when Awesome Bill’s tire blew in the tri-oval, and instead of ending up on the apron….he was parked at the virtual apex of the corner.

I’m not much of a math and science geek, but I really wish Fox had shown how they got the car down.

Several drivers had phenomenal saves. Jamie McMurray's 26 should have spun out at least once, but he was able to save it and continue on…only to lose a tire and hit the wall not long after. The 11 car also ended up sideways, yet Denny Hamlin also found a way to save it. The 2 car did end up sideways, and despite dealing with the flu, Busch kept it off the wall…and out of the way of everyone else behind him. The guys on Fox seemed to credit the down force caused by the new spoiler with the ability to save the car. I don’t know if it was that or just really good driving, but I was impressed none the less.

In the end I don’t think NASCAR, or anyone else for that matter, could have wished for a better finish. As they came to the line, you had Dale Jr. being pushed by Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart being pushed by Jeff Gordon. Jeff seemed to realize he might want to get over and help his teammate and as they crossed the line, you had the new HMS driver finishing just ahead of the new Toyota driver. Almost immediately, some folks began screaming “scripted finish”, but I looked at it as all the stars aligning and just a great way to end a great race.

No one seemed unhappy with the finish, including the guy who came in second, Tony Stewart.

“What an amazing race…I’m happy for him, because a lot is riding on his shoulders with the switch…I can’t be disappointed with second tonight,” explained Stewart as he climbed out of his car on pit road.

As for the man who won the race, he was congratulated by his new boss almost as soon as he crossed the finish line.

“Congratulations…what a way to start our deal baby…do something amazing man,” said Rick Hendrick.

As soon as he was done with the burn out, the first person to his car window was the boss man himself, followed by Jeff Gordon's crew chief, Steve Letarte, and then Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus. I don’t think there is any doubt in Junior's mind that he made the right move this season.

Later on Victory Lane, Junior looked like a kid who had just been given the keys to the toy store.

“I couldn’t believe it…I still can’t believe it," Earnhardt said. "We had a fun race, I had a blast, the car was fast, Tony Junior set it up good but I got a lot of help from my teammate there at the end. That was really the deciding factor in the end, getting a push from Jimmie.

“This happens to me, I don’t know what the deal is. We came here and won after my dad’s death, we won after 9/11…there are things that have happened…I don’t know why they happen to me, but it could NOT be any better, it could NOT!”

If we have a race half as good on Sunday, I agree, I don’t think there could be any better start to the 2008 season. Will Junior go for two in a row this race week? Will Tony finally get his first 500 win? Will it come back down to a battle between HMS and Toyota? We’ll know the answer in six days. And I’ll be there to see it in person. I am packed, and in just 48 hours, I’ll be on the road south to the 50th Daytona 500.

I’ll keep you in the loop live from the infield this weekend.

Until then, happy racing!

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The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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