Nothing surprising about Earnhardt Jr.'s gift victory

There are a lot of folks out there who thought last week's Pepsi 400 at Daytona was rigged so Dale Earnhardt Jr. could win. What surprises me most about the hoopla is I think such on-track shenanigans go on all the time.
It's not because NASCAR officials wink when handing bigger restrictor plates to specific teams or that they ignore illegal components on certain cars or allow a race team or two to pass inspection with a spoiler that's a quarter-inch taller than permitted.
It's about respect for special competitors, and that goes on in all sports. Except for maybe the lower weight classes of kickboxing.
Last Saturday's race reminded me of what happened late in Mickey Mantle's career when 31-game winner Denny McLain of Detroit floated a lazy spinball into No. 7's happy zone, resulting in a homer in a one-sided Tigers victory. Mantle publicly acknowledged McLain's generosity, who was glad to oblige.
Or how about the way veteran defensive standouts such as ex-Bills end Bruce Smith give gentle sacks to elderly counterparts such as Dan Marino or John Elway, whereas some rookie quarterback is more likely to find his helmet turned sideways after getting hit.
Remember Cal Ripken Jr.'s attack on Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record? What were the chances any pitcher was told to pitch high and tight to keep Ripken off the plate. He was in a protective cocoon in the batter's box, as much as he was at shortstop. Base runners helped him up after feeble attempts to break up double plays and probably were at the ready to administer emergency first aid.
So, getting to the point, sentimental favorite Earnhardt Jr. wasn't going to find much of an obstruction to victory provided he put forth the effort to earn his way to the front and win a race at the site his father died five months earlier.
It wouldn't be hard at all to get Junior there, either. At Daytona and Talladega, it's more important to have friends on the track than have the best car. And it seemed Junior had both during last week's race.
Here's where I really have a problem with NASCAR — and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact I made a $10 wager on Michael Waltrip at 45-1 in Las Vegas the week before the race.
It's all this garbage about teammates and drivers in the same model cars linking up late in the events to ensure one of their buddies win.
Is there anyone out there who doesn't think either of the Earnhardts could have won the Daytona 500 in February? With the elder Earnhardt riding shotgun before his tragic accident and Earnhardt Jr. in Waltrip's trunk,
Waltrip was pushed to his first victory in 463 points races. He was the sentimental favorite to win in his first race for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
So, last week there wasn't any way in the world Waltrip was going to pass Junior in the final laps. I hope that made other people besides me sick.
But I should have known better.
Waltrip owed Junior in a big way, and acknowledged as much in post-race quotes, saying he was happy to push Junior home. I guess it was foolish of me to think otherwise.
DEI teammate Steve Park wouldn't have passed Junior either. Nor would Kevin Harvick, now driving Earnhardt's former car. These guys are either teammates of Junior or in the Richard Childress organization that employed his father. There's no telling who else was going to give Junior the right of way on this day.
If I could have scripted the race better from an excitement and drama standpoint, I would have put former Earnhardt Sr. teammate Mike Skinner on the rear bumper of Junior and watched with anticipation. Skinner has never won a points race and probably wouldn't have been sucked into any love-fest ending.
He also probably would have wrecked both cars. But that's not necessarily bad.
The best Daytona 500 in my memory was the fabled 1979 race when Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough, racing one-two, banged doors repeatedly on the last lap before wrecking each other and watching Richard Petty hustle by for the victory by one car length over Darrell Waltrip, Michael's older brother.
Allison, joined by brother Bobby, and Yarborough then had their infamous infield brouhaha while Petty celebrated.
I say Winston Cup needs more of that spontaneous combustion instead of drivers grooving a fastball so a sentimental favorite can win. That only tarnishes the accomplishments of the victors.
This week everyone is in Chicago to indoctrinate one of two new tracks on the circuit this season, the other being Kansas City. I'm picking Matt Kenseth to win. He grew up in Wisconsin and probably will be the favored child this week.

The NASCAR Nextel Cup series visited Daytona International Speedway on Saturday for the Pepsi 400. Tony Stewart won the race, marking his second consecutive victory.
What Went Down takes a look back at the key storylines from this past weekend's action.
How the race was won
Tony Stewart started from the pole and more or less never looked back. He did need to regain the lead in the late stages of the race, and he did so in dazzling fashion with a four-wide pass on the outside. After that, the rest of the field had nothing for the No. 20 car.
Story of the race
Stewart's win ... and his ensuing fence climb. Now only if he could copy Helio Castroneves at Indianapolis ...
And, of course, the rain. More on that later.
Give 'em credit
Stewart. He had been on the cusp of breaking out for a while. It's safe to say that a breakout is well under way.
Also, runner-up Jamie McMurray. He's been OK lately, but the Daytona performance leaves him in good shape for the Chase.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. Each needed a good day and each ended up with one, though Junior looked typically strong at Daytona while Gordon salvaged a solid finish.
Other notably good finishes: Really, the rest of the top 10. Rusty Wallace – nice final Daytona effort – and Dale Jarrett are in the top five again, Matt Kenseth continues to show signs of life, Mike Wallace scores his first top-10 of the year, and Ken Schrader shows he still has some superspeedway magic in him.
What were they thinking?
Was NASCAR misguided in delaying the start of the race so long, essentially assuring it wouldn't end until early Sunday morning? Would just coming back Sunday morning/early afternoon have been the better choice? Nah. Better to get it in and get it done. The fans stayed in their seats and saw a good show. Pushing the start until Sunday would have been an unnecessary delay. Good call by NASCAR.
Better luck next time
There were some very strong cars that couldn't avoid wrecks, including teammates Scott Riggs and Joe Nemechek. The Brothers Busch also were among several others collected.
Also, Elliott Sadler. He had his share of both good and bad luck at Daytona. The race happened to end with the 38 on one of its downturns.
And Michael Waltrip. He arguably lost 200 points due to mechanical problems at the two Daytona races. Sure, everyone has bad luck, but Waltrip could easily be in the top 10 if he had been able to reach the finish at his best track.
Finally, Mark Martin. Tough way to leave Daytona.
By the way ...
We said Greg Biffle assuming the points lead due to Johnson's troubles at Sonoma was disappointing. This week, it's the other way around, as Johnson reassumed the points lead due to Biffle's problems. Still, there's plenty of time for that battle to heat up. There's also plenty of time for Stewart to join the fray.
Also, anyone else notice Carl Edwards drop eight spots in the standings in two weeks?
Grading the race
Putting the long rain delay aside and looking at the race alone, it was a pretty good Daytona show. Stewart dominated, but the Yates boys made it interesting late and in no way was a Stewart win assured. We saw plenty of drivers making their way through the entire field and some nice stories in the top 10 (and a bonus: no excessive amount of transmission or tire problems). Leave it to Daytona to come through. Grade: A-
From the source
Tony Stewart: "If you guys could see some of the crazy dreams I've had, you'd have plenty to write about for the next 10 years and never have to go to another race."
Mark Martin: "I'm glad this is the last time I ever have to race here."

On The Pole

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing, captured his first career Bud Pole at historic Daytona International Speedway for Saturday night's 47th annual Pepsi 400.
"I'm pretty excited," Stewart said. "I'd love for this (qualifying lap) to be an indication (of how we'll run in the 400) because it means we'll have a good day tomorrow."
Even though Stewart is happy to be rolling off the grid in the first position, he realizes that the Hendrick Motorsports cars of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will be tough.
"I don't know if (this run) puts us as an equal (with the Hendrick cars) - we've been close anyway," Stewart said. "If you look at where Jeff qualified (15th), I'm sure he's not going to race there tomorrow. What that means is I doubt this is a true indication of how everybody's going to race tomorrow. I still think handling is going to be a big factor like it always is."
Rounding out the top five will be Scott Riggs, who will be starting on the front row for the first time at "The World Center of Racing", Johnson, Boris Said and Joe Nemechek.
"It's the same car we had down here in January and it drafted well then," Riggs said. "We're glad to have this car and glad this is an impound race. I've got a lot of confidence in the car. Hopefully we can have a good solid finish here tomorrow."
Rusty Wallace, making his final start in the Pepsi 400 as a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver, qualified ninth in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. Mark Martin, also making his final start as a full time NEXTEL Cup Series driver, will roll off 23rd.
"I feel good about my chances here," Wallace said. "We have a real good car, and we qualified well. I told the guys when I got out of the car that it felt friction free and it drafted nice. This is my last one, and I'll be driving extra hard, trying to win this thing."
Jeff Gordon, the 2005 Daytona 500 champion and the 2004 Pepsi 400 winner, qualified 15th. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 champion, will start 39th.

Orange Crush!

After numerous frustrating finishes, Tony Stewart finally won at NASCAR's most famous track.
Stewart dominated the rain-delayed Pepsi 400 on Saturday night, but still needed a dramatic four-wide pass to move to the front, then pulled away on a restart with nine laps left to seal his first Nextel Cup victory in 14 starts at Daytona International Speedway.
The only thing that could top this would be winning the Daytona 500 or a race -- any race -- at his beloved Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
But Stewart will settle for this for now, and celebrated by climbing the fence into the flag stand to claim the checkered flag.
It was his second consecutive victory and showed that the 2002 series champion will be a contender again this year. He started from the pole, led a race-record 151 of 160 laps, and moved to third in the standings.