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Show D6 DAILY Sunday, February 17. 2008 HERALD NASCAR Junior's got a new car and something left to prove DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. sentiment could fuel a car, Dale Earnhardt Jr. win the 50th running of The Great American Race by a heartbeat. NASCAR boss Brian France ing. The finish of last year's race might have been the best last lap since the bootleggers and backwoodsmen moved the wants it to happen because Junior is the franchise. He said just that last month, calling Earnhardt the sport's Los An- Dale Sr., perhaps the best racer ever, restrict was killed in a last-la- p crash in 2001, in the debut race of If geles Lakers. "We're no different than that. If Dale Jr. has a big year," France said with typical understatement during his speech, "that will help." Fox wants it because every time Dale Sr.'s second son and namesake wins, the needle on the TV ratings box jumps. And Junior's fans, the sport's biggest tribe by far, want it to prove his drought is less about being overrated than driving underpowered cars the last few years at DEI. Heck, even a few of his rivals in the beleaguered U.S. auto industry wouldn't mind seeing Junior pull his Chevy into Victory Lane, if only becauthat means a Toyota won't win. The Japanese cars look especially formidable in just their second year of competing at NASCAR's top level, stoking fears that dominance in the te teammates Jimmie Johnson, defending the circuit's champion, and Jeff Gordon, a NASCAR great and fierce rival of Dale Sr., couldnt have been more supportive. But the feeling wasnt unanimous. "Honestly," said Kyle Busch, who was fired by Hendrick . to make room for Earnhardt, "I don't care. I'm here to beat him." More typical was what dint Bowyer said. "I guess it's good for the sport, but people two-tim- circus from ramshackle dirt ovals to asphalt superspeed-ways. Jim Litke NASCAR's first national TV contract with Fox. Instead of OnXtiscar dampening interest in what was still a niche sport, that showrooms could extend to the tragedy, and the ensuing deFILE Associated Press bate it touched off over the racetrack. Dale Earnhardt Jr, drives his car to the checkered flag to win the safety of stock-ca- r None of them, though, have racing, only stoked it. But although most of first of the Daytona 500 qualifying races Thursday afternoon. anything on Junior. Senior's fans seamlessly made Earnhardt has a new team, the segue to Junior's camp, he a new car, a new sponsor and hasn't won anything meaninghelp bridge that gap, too. For plenty to prove. Nothing would in the business, most popular all the talk about the good old ful since the summer of 2006. driver and I'm on the mind signal a cleaner break from So the move to Hendrick of the head dude? That's where days, the reality is that the the past better than winning NASCAR's Super Bowl a secMotorsports has already racing has never been more you want to be," he added, "other than holding the chamond time, right after joining competitive. paid off with victories in the Budweiser Shootout and a Hendrick Motorsports on the "During one bad race in pionship trophy." NASCAR is at a crossroads, NASCAR," said Juan Pablo rebound from DEI, the team qualifying race at Daytona this week. But unless Junior adds his father created and left for Montoya, who was rookie of struggling with sagging TV the year after moving to NAS- Sunday's crown jewel to his his third wife and widow, Teratings and selling out fewer CAR from venues. Managing the sport's resa, to run as,she pleases. racing, haul, it's going to be a tougher "we have more passes than an sell than ever. "It makes you feel like explosive growth has proven A resurgence by Juevery bit as tricky as achieving entire season of Formula One." you've got to be luckiest guy nior in 2008, beginning with the And the Daytona 500 proon the face of the earth," Earnit, with nearly every change, duces more than most. Restrict season opener, would put more from the launch of a playoff hardt said. "There ain't a guy races limit every car's money in everybody's pocket. out there that wouldn't trade to system to the crackdown on ; Yet reaction among the drivers be in this position. I know that. drivers' conduct, drawing horsepower, a feature that fans. has been predictably mixed. makes for close racing and "I'm getting ready to drive yowls from But a win by Junior could Hendrick cars best cars Competitive as they are, new plenty of drafting and bump e can't pretend to be surprised. I mean, it's not like the guy has forgotten how to drive." More important, he hasn't forgotten what it would mean here, of all places, to drive into the winner's circle. "Daytona is a special place. How many times has an Earnhardt won here?" Junior asked. I "Daddy won won, I don't know? Eleven (actually 12) races? That's a lot. I didn't think it was that many. "I embrace that. This is where we lost him, and I want to keep whoopin' it, you know what I'm saying?" open-whe- full-bor- e I Jim Litke is a national tor-pla- te sports columnist for The Associated Press, Write to himatjlitkeap.org Nationwide Tony Stewart wins season-openin- g race at Daytona as Joe Gibbs Racing finishes 2 1-- " Mike Harris THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. The payback was perfect. Tony Stewart turned the tables on Hendrick Motorsports to win the Nationwide Series opener. Now, if only he can do it again today. Stewart and teammate Kyle Busch finished 2 Saturday, combining to hold off Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished third. The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates showed they have learned some important lessons about cooperation from the drivers at Hendrick, the team that fired Busch to make room for Earnhardt Jr. "We worked with each other the whole race. That's something that, you know, we've learned that from (those) guys," Stewart said. "And it just shows if you get two of these guys to work with each other, Kyle and I can. I think Kyle and I could have stayed up front all day no matter how many guys challenged." That will be tested in the 500 and the expected showdown between Hendrick and Gibbs. It will be Stewart, Busch and Denny Hamlin, who won his Daytona qualifying race Thursday, against Hendrick's cast of Earnhardt, two-tim-e all-st- defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-tim- e Cup champion Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears. Earnhardt, Daytona pole- - We worked with ' iSS each other the whole race. That's something that, you know, we've learned that from (the drivers for Hendrick Motorsports). think Kyle and I could have stayed up front all day no matter how many a " ' " " ' guys challenged." Tony Stewart On Gibbs drivers finishing 1 2 in the Nationwide race on Saturday Associated race at Daytona International Speedway. winner Johnson and Gordon are all former 500 winners. Gibbs' drivers still are looking for that first win in NASCAR's biggest event. But Earnhardt Jr.'s convinced Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing are for real. "The Toyota has been fast," said Junior, who had his string of Speedweeks victories ended at two. "Those guys, you know, got knowledge to get cars around the track, know how to get to Victory Lane. They're going to be tough, I think, all year." Joe Gibbs Racing switched from Chevrolets to Toyotas over the winter, giving the Japanese automaker a marquee team for its second season on the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Press photos Above: Tony Stewart celebrates in Victory Lane after his win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series' Camping World 300 auto Right: Stewart (20) leads teammate Kyle Busch to the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series' Camping World 300 on f Saturday. circuits. Stewart and Busch put on a good show Saturday, leading 93 of the 120 laps. "This car was just fast," said Stewart, who finished second in both the Budweiser Shootout and his qualifying race earlier in Daytona's Speedweeks. "It just had so much speed." The field got strung out early in the race, but the last 20 laps were a wild, two-- and three-wid- e melee that included a nine-ca- r crash on lap 111 that took out Cup stars Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick. Brian Vickers, in another 150-mi- Toyota, took the lead from the two Gibbs cars with five laps to go, but Stewart shuffled back into the top spot on the next lap, with Earnhardt shooting out of the pack in close pursuit. "It was fun," said Earnhardt, whose No. 5 Nationwide team likely will be penalized next week after NASCAR confiscated its rear spoiler Thursday for illegal modifications. "We did what we had to do. We got a great finish Those two guys they were tight all weekend, really fast, and worked great together in the draft as team- mates." Busch moved back to second Continued from Dl gap a bit, but Johnson's dominance made it clear his team would make a strong run for its third straight title. "I feel very good about where we are, and I know what we've done in the offseason has only made us stronger," Johnson said. "But I still think we have a lot of room for I? on lap 1 19, with a push from Martin Truex Jr., and Stewart, with his flank well protected, raced on to a three victory. Busch dismissed a report that Truex had complained that he was blocked. "What else you going to do, man? Shoot, he's pushing me through the trioval wanting to spin me out," Busch said. "So I'm sorry I saved it and kept it in front of him. Grow up, bud. What do you want me to do, Hendrick cars are good and the Gibbs cars are unbelievably strong," 2003 series champion Matt Kenseth said. "From sitting back and watching, unless some other people really get their stuff going, I really think it's going to be somebody out of those couple of groups unless something weird happens." That's not out of the ques- Gibbs team together in the 500, and Stewart likes his odds. "I feel we finally have a shot to beat that lineup of four guys that I had to go up against the other night," Stewart said. "I feel we have three good cars in our camp, they've got four good cars on their side. That's about as even as it gets. "You give us odds and it works in our favor just as easy as it does in theirs." e series Stewart, a champion who is searching for his first Daytona 500 win, has had his heart broken in nine previous tries to win NASCAR's biggest race. He hates that winning it will depend on teamwork, but knows Busch and Hamlin are all on the same page. "There's safety in numbers and that's the sad, disappointing part," Stewart said. "That's what this race has come down to, not great individual performances, but sheer numbers of strength I think it's harder than ever to win because you've got to rely on everyone else. "For an individual, you can't count on anything. The only thing you can count on is that teammates will work your with you. The disappointing part is our biggest race of the year, you have to rely on someone else for your success." If that means a win, Stewart might be ready to make nice, just like his Hendrick rivals. car-leng- tion. Kevin Harvick never seemed to be in contention in last year's race, then charged to the front and stole the win from Mark Martin as the two raced to the checkered flag. In this 50th running of The Great American Race, an unlikely winner would be fitting. That includes a Toyota. Led by the three Gibbs entries, the Toyotas have been improvement." That's bad news for the rest of the industry, which has dudes." He has yet to grab the spotlight at Daytona, where Earnhardt has stolen the show. He won the exhibition Budweiser Shootout last week in ; I Daytona 500 grown weary of watching Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team dominate week in and week out for much of the past five seasons. But Johnson will have strong competition from within Hendrick Motorsports, which now includes Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR's most popular driver instantly became the star of the super team, supseries planting four-tim- e champion Jeff Gordon. When Sports Illustrated recently photographed the four Hendrick drivers together, Johnson was relegated to the back. "It's because he was the tallest," crew chief Chad Knaus reasoned. "They had to stick him behind all those short vr ' strong throughout Speed-week- s. Denny Hamlin took FILEAssociated Press drivers take part in the final Daytona 500 practice on Saturday morning. The 50th running of the Daytona 500 is today at noon. NASCAR his Hendrick Motorsports debut, then won the first of two qualifying races Thursday. It established Earnhardt as the favorite to win the Daytona 500, a victory that would snap a winless streak that is closing in on two years. "I feel like we got a shotf you know what I mean?" said Earnhardt, trying to become the first to win the Shootout, a qualifying race and the 500 in the same year. "Nobody is boastful enough, I don't think, to come in personality-wise- , here and claim that. I wouldn't expect anybody to do that. "But I think we got a great shot." He'll have plenty of help with all four Hendrick cars in the top nine of Sunday's race. But they'll be surrounded by three Joe Gibbs Racing entries, setting up what's expected to I be a showdown between NASCAR's top two teams. Although anything can happen at Daytona, where the use of horsepoweraapping restric-to- r plates means the cars run in large packs and drivers can shoot to the front of the field in a matter of seconds, early indications point to a Hendrick or Gibbs victory. "From what I see on the track, Dale Jr. is real good, the the Japanese automaker to its first Victory Lane, winning the second qualifying race Thursday. Pushed to the win by teammate Tony Stewart, they devised a strategy to work with Gibbs newcomer Kyle Busch to end Hendrick's run. Stewart counseled Hamlin in the closing laps of their qualifying race on how to hold off Gordon, and it was a lesson they hope to use Sunday. Stewart lost the Shootout to Earnhardt last week when Hamlin was not in position to help hold off the Hendrick charge. But group the entire " X pull over?" Busch, who also finished second in the trucks race, is hoping to improve his finish Sunday. "If I win tomorrow, I'm going to be the happiest man alive, that's for sure," Busch said. "That's what I've been saving my wind for this week." Said Earnhardt: "Good luck." two-tim- v |