Daytona warrior
Retiring Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a chance to add to his sizable legacy at famed track in Florida,
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement tour will get in full swing this weekend at Daytona International Speedway as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series begins to cycle back to tracks for a second time this season.
That doesn’t mean Earnhardt won’t race at the 2.5-mile trioval after Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC). When he announced in April that this would be his last full-time season on the circuit, he said he already was planning to run some Xfinity Series races in 2018. And he hasn’t ruled out a return in the Daytona 500 at some point.
Nevertheless, this could be his farewell in front of Junior Nation at the track where he has seen his lowest point — his father, seventime champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. died after a last-lap crash in Turn 4 in the 2001 Daytona 500 — and his highest, with careermaking victories.
So with that in mind, we look back at Earnhardt Jr.’s five most compelling moments there:
2001 Pepsi 400: Just more than four months after the death of his father, Earnhardt found victory lane at the track for the first time. He held off Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Michael Waltrip by 0.123 seconds. Waltrip joined Earnhardt in the infield grass, and both embraced atop Waltrip’s car in a dual celebration — Earnhardt for his win, Waltrip perhaps soaking in the moment he didn’t have in February when he won.
“He was with me tonight. I don’t know how I did it,” Earnhardt said in victory lane. He started 13th and restarted sixth after the final caution with seven laps remaining. He bobbed and weaved his way to the front, showcasing his coveted restrictor-plate skill set that would carry him to 10 wins at NASCAR’s two plate tracks.
2004 Daytona 500: Three years after his father’s death and six years to the day after his father’s first and only win in NASCAR’s most prestigious event, Earnhardt earned his first “Great American Race” win. He passed Tony Stewart with 20 laps to go and held on to win in his fifth attempt, at 29. When he stopped his car at the start-finish line after his cool-down lap, he emerged to a chorus of screaming, jubilant fans and quickly was mobbed by his crew.
In victory lane, he said, “It’s been lost so many times by Dad, over and over, and I was taught so many lessons by this place before I ever got behind the wheel. … He was over in the passenger side with me. I’m sure he was having a blast.”
It was the first of a career-high six wins that season.
2014 DRIVEFORCOPD
300: Earnhardt finished 11th in the Xfinity Series opener that year, but the winner was Regan Smith. Smith drove for JR Motorsports, a team co-owned by Earnhardt, his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller and his Cup team owner, Rick Hendrick. It marked Earnhardt’s first win at the track as a team owner.
2014 Daytona 500: It took Earnhardt 10 years before he won his second Daytona 500, and the wait was prolonged that Sunday by a 61⁄ 2- hour rain delay and tornado warning after the race began. It was closing in on midnight when he pulled into victory lane to celebrate with Hendrick and then-girlfriend Amy Reimann and sink his hands and right foot into the wet cement that would be installed on the Champion’s Walk of Fame.
“Winning this race is the great- est feeling that you can feel in this sport, aside from accepting (the) trophy for the championship,” he said. “I didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to feel that again. This is amazing. I can’t believe this is happening. I’ll never take this for granted, man. This doesn’t happen twice, let alone once. Just real thankful.”
He would win three more races that year, his last with crew chief Steve Letarte. His win at Daytona broke a 55-race winless streak.
2015 Coke Zero 400: His last win at the track — to date — came in the July 4 weekend event that didn’t start until nearly midnight because of a rain delay and probably will be remembered for Austin Dillon’s horrific crash on the final lap.
Dillon — driving the iconic No. 3 made famous by Earnhardt Sr., flew into the frontstretch catchfence and landed back on the track in a shredded car. The fiery engine block came to rest behind Dillon, who was hit again by Brad Keselowski’s car. Crewmembers from several teams and safety workers ran to Dillon and helped him out of the car. Dillon gave a double wave to the crowd and was treated at the infield medical center for a bruised tailbone and arm. Five fans were injured by debris that came through or over the fence.
Earnhardt screamed “Oh my God!” into his team radio as he watched the scene develop after he crossed the start-finish line.
He said from a subdued victory lane, “That scared the hell out of me. I saw the whole thing in my mirror. That was terrifying to watch. You saw the car get high and get into the fence. It was touch and go there for several moments. I (am) more thankful that everyone is OK than standing here in victory lane at the moment.”