NASCAR

For Junior, Daytona Win has a Deeper Meaning

I can’t believe, of all people, I am about to paraphrase Larry the Cable Guy, but I can’t help it – watching Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pull the No.3 car into Victory Lane Friday night at Daytona, the first thing that came to mind was simply, “I don’t care who you are, that’s some good stuff, right there.”

The win was big for obvious reasons. The car, wearing the legendary No.3 and the same Wrangler paint scheme that Dale Earnhardt made famous by winning two of his seven championships with (three if you include the fact that Earnhardt also ran the blue-and-yellow scheme for the final race of his 1980 championship, although that was the No.2 car) brought back memories of one of the greatest drivers in the sport at a track where he was perpetually at his best.

So for Dale, Jr. to take that number and sponsor – in what was likely the last time we will ever see the No.3 on a NASCAR track, at least with an Earnhardt behind the wheel – to Victory Lane at Daytona was clearly an emotional moment for him as well as the fans, who Little E said were his main motivation to undertake such a complex project.

“It was obviously to honor my father, but for his fans, too,” Junior said after the race. “They were so supportive of him, and still are today,  so I want to thank them.”

But while the car and the race were both a tribute to his late father, there is a lot of meaning in this win for Junior himself – some of it not so obvious at first-glance.

A Long Road Back to Victory Lane

2001 was a roller-coaster year for Earnhardt, Jr.; not only did he lose his father in that fateful Daytona 500 accident, but he also scored some of the biggest wins of his career – an emotional checkered flag in the first race at Daytona after his father’s death, as well as a poignant victory at Dover in the first Cup series race after September 11th. Those wins not only helped Junior recover from the tragic start to the season, but also helped him form a lasting bond with his fans, as well as those of Earnhardt, Sr.

Junior has won races since then, but Friday night’s victory was probably the closest he has come to recapturing that feeling he had in his best years at DEI. And while he did not want to make a big deal about it, that point was clearly not lost on Dale, Jr. after the race.

“Yeah, every time I win, I mean, I just really soak it up like a sponge because, you know, we’ve had such a trying time over the last several years,” Junior said. “My team, all the fans that this made happy – I was just relieved.”

A Family Affair

The other product of this race and the victory is that – if only for a moment – it brought some semblance of order to the Earnhardt family.

The tension between Dale, Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt has been well documented, but somehow (probably through a lot of work by Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick) the pair, along with sister Kelley Earnhardt, all put aside their differences long enough to make the car, the number and the paint scheme a reality.

“It was such a tough deal – it was real emotional for me preparing for it and putting it together,” Junior said. “Is Rick okay with it? Did Rick mind? Is Richard happy with his role? Is Teresa truly okay? It’s just so damn hard to know how everybody feels about it.”

But everyone was okay with the project, and once it all came together, Junior was up to the challenge of making it all worthwhile.

“When I started hearing…how everybody was making such a big deal about it,” Junior said, “I was like, shit, man, this is like pressure, man, this is a big deal. So I was a little nervous.”

“Anything less than a win was pointless.”

The Start of Something Big?

With so much riding on this race combined with Junior’s recent struggles on the track, nobody would have blamed Dale if he had failed to win. But just like he did back in 2001, Junior stepped up to the challenge and came through with an emotional victory.

So does that mean we’ll see a different Junior on the track? Will this win help him regain the confidence he once had?

“I think people can stop questioning my commitment, whether I care, whether I have the passion anymore, enough passion,” Junior said. “I got the passion, man. I want to win. I want to be here for a long, long time.”

Only time will tell if his win in the No.3 car will catapult Junior back up to a level where he can compete for championships, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility – especially considering that his fourth-place finish in Saturday’s Cup race put him back into the top-12 and the Chase picture.

But regardless of the long term effects, for at least one night, we got to see vintage Earnhardt racing at Daytona, and – at the risk of saying it again – I don’t care who you are, that was some good stuff, right there.