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Dale Earnhardt Jr takes #3 to Daytona Nationwide Win

Photo Credit: Jeff Markland/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR ire Service

(July 2, 2010)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Driving the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet in honor of his late father, Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke a NASCAR Nationwide Series drought of almost four years in winning Friday night's Subway Jalapeno 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt's emotional win was the result of a collaboration between owner Richard Childress, Teresa Earnhardt, JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports, which supplied the engine for the No. 3 car.

The victory, the 23rd of Earnhardt's career, was his first in the series since Aug. 19, 2006, when he took the checkered flag at Michigan. It was his first points win in any of NASCAR's top three series since June 15, 2008, when Earnhardt captured the Lifelock 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, again at Michigan.

In a race that saw the debut of NASCAR's new Nationwide Series car, Earnhardt held off runner-up Joey Logano and third-place finisher Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond its scheduled distance of 100 laps.

"I was so worried that I wasn't going to win, 'cause nothing but a win would get it—for everybody," Earnhardt said after getting hugs from Childress, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and a multitude of others in victory lane. "If we didn't win, what a waste of time. …

"I worked hard to try to win, not only for daddy—I'm proud of him going to the Hall of Fame, and he would be proud of this, I'm sure—but just all these fans. I hope they enjoyed this. This is it—no more '3' for me. That's it."

With a push from Justin Allgaier, Earnhardt took the lead for the first time on Lap 70, surging past Kyle Busch through Turns 1 and 2. On that same lap, NASCAR called a caution for debris on the backstretch. Pitting under the caution, Earnhardt retained his lead, thanks to a quick, problem-free stop by Earnhardt's No. 88 Sprint Cup crew, which volunteered for the race.

Earnhardt held the top spot through Lap 96, when NASCAR threw a debris caution that set up a two-lap run to the finish. Earnhardt stayed out on old tires, as did seven other contending cars, but Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Trevor Bayne and Ryan Newman came to the pits for tires under the yellow.

The strategy didn't work for those drivers, as track position proved more beneficial that fresh rubber. Points leader Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick ran fourth and fifth, respectively, on old tires. Keselowski extended his margin in the standings to 277 points over second-place Edwards, who finished 11th Saturday.

But the day belonged to Earnhardt.

"It's emotional," he said. "I'm proud of myself. I'm proud to have done what I did with this group."

Childress, who won six Sprint Cup championships as Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s car owner, told Earnhardt Jr. his father would have been proud.

"He just said that daddy would have been happy, real happy," Earnhardt said. "And who would know better than him?"

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Dodge Challenger going to NASCAR

With Dodge's involvement in NASCAR remains in question as the Chrysler group continues to restructure their company under a Fiat partnership, a recent announcement for the upcoming NASCAR Nationwide Series could bring a sigh of relief to Mopar fans. On Friday, October 30th Dodge and Penske Racing unveiled that the Dodge Challenger in a ceremony at Talladega attended by current NASCAR Nationwide rookie contender Justin Allgaier. For the 2010 Nationwide season, the Challenger bodied car will run in the 4 races which will acquaint teams with the new spec stock car slated for competition starting at the July race at Daytona. “Dodge is the performance brand of Chrysler LLC and the Challenger is the production vehicle that went out to market in 2009. We see this as the perfect opportunity to come in and launch into this (Nationwide) series the look of the car and get that connection back with the fans of this high-horsepower performance car. We’re real happy about the Nationwide Challenger’s design and characteristics and can’t wait for it to hit the track.” says senior manager of Dodge Motorsports Engineering Howard Comstock answering the reason for bringing the Challenger to the Nationwide series.

As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Car of Tomorrow was in development, it was widely rumoured that Dodge was going to rebrand their Dodge Charger entry under the guise of the two-door Challenger. Instead, Dodge Motorsports decided to campaign 10 races in 2007 with COT cars wearing the Avenger name. As the COT Sprint Cup car went full-time in 2008, Dodge ended the Avenger's short-lived affiliation with the upper

Reaffirming their commitment to NASCAR with the activation of the Dodge Challenger in the NASCAR Nationwide series, Dodge Motorsports goes on the comment “Our management has told us that we’re committed to racing in NASCAR and this is part of that commitment. It is a big commitment to build a new car for the Nationwide Series and we’re excited to expand our relationship with Penske Racing next year and beyond”.




Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR