July 4, 2010
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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In the world of NASCAR, there have been feel good stories that have made fans smile. But few have made many fans smile as much as Dale Earnhardt Junior winning a race at Daytona.
There was a lot of anticipation for Junior's return to the Nationwide series Friday night. He had chosen to run a tribute car to his father -- the famous yellow and blue Wrangler No. 3 that his father won a Championship in when Dale was just a child. When he went out to qualify, he qualified third in that No. 3. It was almost as if karma was kicking in.
Before the race, as he stood surrounded by photographers and sponsors and fans, Junior smiled for pictures, shook hands, and gave interviews. And then he took a moment, turned to his car, closed his eyes, and seemed to work on settling himself down for the job at hand.
Photo by Kim Roberson
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Dale Jr. Shares a Moment With Richard Childress
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And then the race began, and the No. 3 went to the lead. And the fans went wild.
I was standing on the roof of the Sprint Cup garage in the Sprint Fan Zone when the final restart happened, and dozens of fans there on the roof with me were glued to the Sprintvision screen behind us. They were holding their hands up with three fingers raised, and cheering the car and its driver on as he took the lead for the final time.
As the car came across the stripe to get the checkered flag, it was as if two years of anxiety and frustration were released and joy and pride filled the void. There were cheers, hugs, and even a few tears as fans rejoiced not only in their favorite driver winning, but winning in a car that so was so important to his father.
As I write this story, I am looking at the wall in front of me at a picture of another momentous race for Junior here at Daytona -- he is climbing out of the Bud "Born on date" No. 8 after winning the Daytona 500 in 2004, a look of jubilation on his face. It was a time when it seemed Junior had the world on a plate, and NASCAR was his for the taking.
It is amazing how much has changed in the six years since that day.
When Junior won on Friday night, he wasn't doing it just for himself, but for so many others.
Photo by Kim Roberson
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Junior Prepares For Daytona Race
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"I'm happy for Wrangler because they have been a great friend of our family for all of these years. They didn't put anything into the race car because that is what I asked. I asked if we could take some of my personal services that we had already agreed upon and put it into this race car. i just wanted to run this paint scheme for once. I want to thank Hendrick engines because they worked especially hard to help us for this race, and we had a great car and a great power plant. Tony Junior did a great job. He managed his people well and gave us a great car and never had any flaws over the weekend. I want to thank the National Guard team for pitting the car, they volunteered to do that. I think they volunteered to do that. I was happy to see Richard (Childress). He told me before the race we were going to win and if we did he was coming to Victory Lane. Rick (Hendrick) called me after the race and was happy, and I thank him for allowing us to do what we needed to to make this work. It was a real emotional win. It was to honor my father, and his fans too. They were so supportive of him, and still are today, so I want to thank them."
Those fans of his father often call for Junior to take the wheel of the No. 3 in the Cup series if it ever is returned to the track, but Junior says this was the last time you will ever see him in that number again.
"I will never do it, I will never rethink it. That's as concrete as it gets. I will never do it again. I enjoyed it. It is a balancing act, between (the media) and the public and myself and my own feelings. I look at what (the media) put out there and what the public is feeling. It is so emotional to me to prepare for it. Is Rick (Hendrick) ok with it? Is Richard (Childress) happy with his role? Is Teresa (Earnhardt) truly Ok and gosh, it's so damned hard with how everybody feels about it. I just want to come and race. It was a cool car and I always loved this scheme, and that's all that mattered to me. I just loved the car and I wanted to race it once. And I did."
As for all the excitement about running his father’s old number, Junior says he didn't even think about it until others started talking about it.
"I've run the number before in this series, so I didn't put a lot of stock in the fact the 3 was coming back. But when I started hearing everybody making such a big deal about it, there was pressure. I made my life the 8, and now the 88. It doesn't make sense for me to do this again. I really wanted to do it, and I have done it, and I will never do it again. And I won't change my mind. Ever."
Photo by Kim Roberson
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Richard Childress and Dale Jr. Celebrate
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You can hear how much Junior has matured when he talks about his priorities in racing. Junior thinks a lot about both his Cup team at Hendrick Motorsports, and his Nationwide teams at JR Motorsports, and the effects on one when he focuses on the other. "I don't want to run the (Nationwide) series more than six times a year. It helps me know where we (JR Motorsports) are as a team. Other than that, it is so hard to be competitive in the cup series, that every time I drive a lap in something else, I feel like I am cheating my (Sprint Cup) team. And cheating everyone who is trying to help me getting where I am trying to go. My focus is there and that is where it needs to be. I want to focus on my goals in life, and my goals aren't to win more Nationwide championships or races. Those aren't my goals; they are to win Winston (Sprint) Cup races.
"I told somebody that Victory Lane is like when you're a little kid and you've got a tree house or you and your buddies got a clubhouse in the woods or whatever, that's what Victory Lane is to me and I like going there. You miss it. Really bad. But you know it's there and you can get back there again if you try really hard. It's not gone. It's very difficult to get into. Every time I win, I just soak it up like a sponge because we've had such a trying time over the last several years and sure I want to get back to where I can win multiple races a year but that's not where I'm at right now, so we've just got to be happy and feel lucky and blessed for how it's going right now and keep working hard to get better and do more."
When asked about his situation in the No. 88 car, and whether anyone should worry about how committed he is to that team, Junior replied "I don't think that they should. I think people can stop questioning my commitment, whether I care, whether I have the passion any more or enough passion. I have worked my a** off to be above average. I have busted my ass. I mean, I can't drive and work any harder than I'm working right now. I can't. That's just all I've got. I'm doing it hard. I can't do it any harder. So, you can't do this half-assed. You can't do it 90 percent. You'll get eaten up and it will be obvious to everybody around you, your team, your crew chief, everybody who builds your motors, who builds your cars, they'll stop giving a s--t because they know you're not giving a s--t and you won't go anywhere. You can't.
"I tell myself every year, am I working hard? Yea, I can't work any harder. I've asked myself. Maybe people are right, what more can I do? This year, we have wore it out trying to get back to where we need to be. I'm not burned out. I've still got a lot in the tank. We've got a long season left. I've got the passion. I want to win. I want to be here for a long, long time. I shouldn't take it so personal, but, man, when you work so damn hard ... for anybody to wonder if you're giving it all you've got, pisses you off."
When asked about what this track means to him, it is obvious that he is tied to the track in ways no other driver can be. Daytona is a special place to me because of my father dying here. I'm always connected. I'm totally a part of this place for the rest of my life, regardless of what the history of the track is. I've seen every corner of this place. I love it at as a town. And the track just has such a beautiful history. So many great things have happened here. To me it's THE track in our series; it's the mother of all race tracks in NASCAR racing."
When I walked through the NASCAR Hall of Fame last month, there was a children’s drawing of a blue and yellow No. 3 car on a white paper plate. The car was a little boxy, and the 3 was facing the wrong way, but it was clear that the car was important to the child.
The child was Dale Earnhardt Jr., and on Friday night, he took a childhood dream and fulfilled it, but in the process, also reminded us that he is a determined and focused adult who will let nothing, not even thousands of vocal doubters, stand in his way to living his dream.
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