For the second straight year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. found himself the bridesmaid in the biggest race of the year. His frantic charge on the last lap that came up short, ending in a second place finish in the Daytona 500 behind teammate Jimmie Johnson.
“I couldn’t really do much without Mark [Martin] helping me at the end. I was hoping he was thinking what I was thinking as we came off of turn on the last lap,” said Earnhardt Jr. of his team’s performance. “I felt like we needed to make the move a little earlier than off of [turn] four and I kept backing up, backing up trying not to let guys get to racing behind us too much.”
The plan, at least from Earnhardt Jr.’s perspective was for he and Martin to have enough of a gap that if those behind them started to get lined up, they could take off. When not having to worry about the others, Earnhardt Jr. said he just mashed the gas and began his run down the backstretch, Martin following behind.
“Once we come to turn four, we kind of run out of steam, didn’t have enough to get a run on Jimmie,” he said. “But real happy with the way the car run all day. You couldn’t pass much. But when I was bale to really see what my car could do, it was plenty capable of winning the race.”
The 1-2 finish for Hendrick Motorsports, specifically the shop that houses the teams of Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson, is now home to Johnson’s second win in the Daytona 500 while Earnhardt Jr., who won the event in 2004, finished second for the third time in last four races. He was fourth heading into the final lap before charging forward with the help of Martin.
Struck by how long those in front of him waited to make a move, Earnhardt Jr. looked for his opening and took it. But knew, having the same equipment as Johnson it would be hard to get around him. The two will head to Phoenix the top two in points.
For much of the 500-mile race, the field took a conservative approach. Quickly getting single file and logging laps, but numerous times Earnhardt Jr. told his team that he wasn’t even running full throttle and was pondering how the end of the race was going to play out. With not much passing or pack racing taking place, drivers were unable to gage what they could and couldn’t do.
What Earnhardt Jr. knew however, was that his car was much better than it had been just days earlier. In his Budweiser Duel race he complained about how it handled and said the team had a lot of work to do ahead of the 500. But then, in final practice on Saturday the speed showed up and crew chief Steve Letarte fixed the bugs that plagued the No. 88 National Guard team.
Sunday they ran a safe race, avoided the wrecks and were in contention at the end. But it wasn’t enough for Earnhardt Jr. to find victory lane at Daytona again.
“It’s like a drug, I assume. It’s such a high. You just don’t know when you’ll ever get that opportunity again or if you’ll ever get that opportunity again,” said Earnhardt Jr. about trying to win a second Daytona 500. “I knew before I won in 2004, I was reserved to the idea I may be trying to win this race my entire career because I knew all too well how that was for my father.
“I felt so much relief when I did win it. I’m ready to do it again. It’s been too long. Running second over and over is great and all for our team, a good start to the season, but I would love – even having to go through all the hassle that Jimmie is about to go through this week [as Daytona 500 champion] – it’s worth it.”
