Author: SM Staff

One of them is his son. The other drives his car.

The 53rd running of the Daytona 500 will see both men attempting to win the Great American Race for the second time. And now more so than ever they’ll be the sentimental favorites.

Not as if they normally aren’t with the fan base each possess, but this year with the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s death those fans are looking for an emotional victory.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]When Earnhardt died on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 it forever linked Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick. It forever made them two drivers fans would always cling to when thinking about Earnhardt Sr.

As the son, Earnhardt Jr. has been cursed with unnecessary expectations. As the man picked to drive his car, Harvick was given big shoes to fill. They both have honored the Intimidator in their own ways while creating a legacy of their own.

The passing of his father brought Earnhardt Jr. more fans and attention than he already had. Greatness once expected with time became greatness expected now, become his father.

Success he enjoyed in his rookie year, winning his first race at Texas and becoming the first rookie to win the All-Star race, was shared with dad in victory lane. A family sport had one its greatest families stealing the headlines.

Then, dad was gone and ‘Little E’ was on his own and forced to become the man of the household.

As a new season begins and another Daytona 500 approaches, along with another anniversary, Earnhardt Jr. will be bombarded with questions about his father. It may even be blessing in disguise from talking about another disappointing year, 2010, and the changes at Hendrick Motorsports over the offseason.

“You know, you think about your parents all the time,” Earnhardt Jr. said last week during preseason testing. “I think about him and my mother all the time, especially getting back to racing.”

Getting back to racing seems quite different when having to start the season off at the same track that took his fathers life. Except, Earnhardt Jr. not only enjoys racing at Daytona but enjoys being able to carry on the success of the Earnhardt name at the track.

In 2004 when he won his first Daytona 500 it came five years to the day that his father has won his first. Last July Earnhardt Jr. drove a blue and yellow No. 3 to victory lane at Daytona in a Nationwide Series race and the sport went into a frenzy.

Big headlines accompanied a big celebration. There were beer baths in the grandstands. Three fingers were raised high above their heads. It was a great night to honor a man that will always be a champion of the people and great night for Earnhardt Jr. to make dad proud.

“He was intimidating like they say,” said Earnhardt Jr.

“He was like that as a father when he was at home. You wanted to please him all the time, make him happy and you wanted to – whatever you did – you wanted it to somehow get a response from him,” he continued.

“My dad was there to guide me in a lot of good directions that helped me out a lot. I tried to have some of the same good qualities that he had. The qualities that I enjoyed about him, I tried to emulate those as best I could and keep those qualities as well because I felt like it made him a good person.”

Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t seen victory lane at Daytona in the Cup Series since 2004. While he’s picked up where dad left off in plate dominance, the last few years have been tough to swallow. Hope is not lost, however, Earnhardt Jr. has been magic in emotional races in the past.

Long live the 2001 Pepsi 400.

Just like long live the 2007 Daytona 500. Richard Childress had not been to victory lane at Daytona since 1998 and after the last lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001 he thought about giving it all up.

Six years to the day and on the last lap again, Harvick reminded Childress why he had made the right decision. A pass on Mark Martin put RCR back on top and put Harvick in the history books.

It was a long journey not just for Childress but for NASCAR, the fans and for Harvick himself.

“I was very uncomfortable with it in the beginning, didn’t like it, didn’t want to be a part of it,” Harvick said of the emotions of being the successor to Earnhardt.

“You know as the last three or four years have come, I’ve learned to become more comfortable. And I think the biggest reason is we’ve been able to accomplish a lot of things on our own. So that for me is something that makes me a little bit more comfortable with it. And the hardest part for me to learn was just the fact that a lot of times it wasn’t somebody trying to make you do something like he did, it was just somebody complimenting on things that he did and things that we’ve been able to do.”

His feelings are understandable. Harvick was still trying to make a name for himself in 2000 in the Nationwide Series before being handpicked by Childress to replace Earnhardt. In the wake of losing a hero, friend and boss and having never made a start in the Cup Series, it was a tall order for Harvick.

Every eye was on him. An emotional win in Atlanta three weeks after the ill-fated Daytona 500 helped relive the pain. Then there were times when it felt like Earnhardt wasn’t gone because of the actions Harvick found himself in.

A Truck Series altercation at Martinsville led NASCAR to benching him for the Cup race a day later. After being wrecked at Bristol by Greg Biffle he ran down pit road, jumped over the car and grabbed the driver, exchanging heated words.

Harvick has never been one to shy away from speaking what at times has been the truth or what he’s feeling. Losing Earnhardt made it become a bigger story and happen quicker than most anticipated.

“I think everything we did was backwards,” said Harvick.

“I went into 2000 and we never had anything. We had always beat my own path as we went along. Same thing happened in 2000 with starting the Nationwide program, get to 2001 and you’re planning on racing for a championship in the Nationwide Series and running a few Cup races – just signed a new sponsor for Cup the year – and then it all changed.”

Harvick was practically thrown to the wolves.

“Instantly it’s like everybody knows your name, everybody knows what you’re doing,” he said.

“You start from the wrong end of the spectrum and you don’t have time to learn. You have time to learn what you’re supposed to say, when you’re supposed to do things, how you’re supposed to do it.”

As time has gone on Harvick has learned to do a lot of things. Last season he was the best through the first 26 races and almost gave Childress his first championship since 1994. Again fans flocked to him, those looking for someone to beat Jimmie Johnson and others who wanted to see RCR again the best in the business.

Harvick has also become one of the best restrictor plate racers of his time. In 2010 he won two of the four plate races and will roll into Daytona this season again a favorite. And again he’ll roll into Daytona thinking about how where he once was and where he is today.

“I think as we went into that situation you start off with the biggest press conference that you’ll ever have in your whole career,” he said of 2001.

“You have more fans than you’ll ever have and you don’t know how to manage your time, you don’t know how to manage your money, you don’t know what to say, and all of a sudden you have all that stuff at once. So instantly I just put up my defense and it was easier just not to talk about it. I was 25 and didn’t really know exactly what direction that life was going to go, and instantly you had everything that you wanted but you didn’t have to do anything for it. So it just didn’t all make sense to me.”

What would make sense? Seeing either Earnhardt Jr. or Harvick back in victory lane at a track that changed both their lives 10 years ago.

A few years ago former NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte was asked about his thoughts about increasing the excitement level during Cup races. Without a seconds hesitation Labonte replied “shorten the races.” As I read his thoughts on this matter I quickly realized that Labonte was right with this assessment. Chopping 100 miles off of many of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup races is actually a very good idea.

This point was proven this past October when the Auto Club Speedway decided to roll the experimental dice and delete 100 miles from their annual signature event: the Auto Club 500. The result was simply astounding and the event concluded with Tony Stewart taking the checkers over Clint Bowyer by a mere margin of 0.466 seconds. It was one of the closest finishes in the track’s history.

Now bear in mind that this massive two mile, D shaped oval, located in Fontana-California has endured a great deal of motorsports themed criticism over the years. The press often called the racing there “tedious” and then often picked apart the track, its races and even its special promotional efforts.

I have to concede that there were times over the years that the top ten leaders were a little strung out during these races especially during the middle portions of the events. That’s when I started casting my eyes towards the middle of the pack around positions 20 through 30. This racing often featured teams with limited sponsorship programs. These teams were racing hard because every position gained meant a slight financial bump in the pay check for their owners. These teams were often racing to maintain their status in NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points to insure a guaranteed starting berth for next Sunday’s event. I recalled often flinching as I watched these cars race four, sometimes even five, wide heading towards the turns and wondering if they were going to make it without crashing. I never again allowed anyone to tell me there wasn’t good racing at this track.

I also recall reading critical reports regarding this speedway that were often unfair and sometimes totally ridiculous. I vividly recall a racing column; published back in 2007 that spent two paragraphs ripping the speedway apart because they had ran out of asparagus tips in the media lounge. The speedway invited this writer to their event, gave him unfettered access free of charge, fed him, spent the better part of three days practically kissing his backside and then he rips them up over asparagus? As ridiculous as that sounds, criticisms of this track at this level were more often the norm as the exception.

Isn’t it amazing how all of that changed during a late Sunday afternoon last October? By the conclusion of last year’s Auto Club 400 the very same critics, who were looking for something negative all weekend long, were now saying it was the best Fontana race since the track’s inaugural event back in 1997. Everyone was raving about the intensity of the Auto Club 400. Driver Clint Bowyer probably stated it best when he said “they say you’re only as good as your last race. Well, for this place, that was one hell of a race.” Isn’t it amazing that all of this new found respectability stemmed from the simple decision of shortening the event 100 miles?

With that decision, came a new level of intensity in the Auto Club race. The drivers knew they would have to mount a charge to the front earlier than usual. Crew chiefs were acutely aware that they now had one less pit stop to massage the handling of their cars. Pit crews were aware that one less stop meant every second spent on pit road was now more important than ever.

Fans can now expect more of the same in 2011. Knowing a great situation when she sees one, speedway President Gillian Zucker recently announced that this year’s Auto Club sponsored race will also be 400 miles. NASCAR’s only stop in southern California is set for the weekend of March 27th and there’s already talk regarding the anticipated excitement level of this event.

The Auto Club Speedway staff has a long reputation for their willingness to think and work outside of the box. The result has often been some rather unusual, but fun, themed ticket promotions. They have already launched some of those promotions for the race in March and many of them are extremely affordable and fan friendly. They can all be found at www.autoclubspeedway.com.

Whether you’re sitting in the speedway grandstands March 27th or at home watching the race on Fox Sports, don’t be too surprised if you get treated to an intensely exciting Auto Club 400.

Then ask yourselves why the other tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule aren’t shortening their race distance as well.

Just days before Sprint Cup Series teams were set to hit Daytona International Speedway for preseason testing a late addition to the list raised a few eyebrows.

Steven Wallace is set to make his Cup debut in the biggest race of the season, the 53rd running of the Daytona 500. Wallace will be the third car under the Penske Racing banner.

“We came down here yesterday and unloaded,” said Wallace on Friday.

“We, obviously, weren’t as quick as we wanted to be. This was kind of a last-minute deal put together. We bought a car from Richard Childress that was a Chevrolet, a 2008 car that they ran. It hasn’t been run since. So put a Toyota nose and tail on it, put motor rounds in it, and came down here within about a week. So we have a lot of fine tuning to do on the car to find some speed, but we’re coming back with a different car that should be a little faster, and we’re excited about that.”

Wallace will be locked into the event thanks to the owner points coming with the No. 77 he’ll be driving. Last season Sam Hornish Jr. drove the car but team owner Roger Penske decided to make a change after struggles both on the track and sponsorship became an issue. Hornish will be running a few Nationwide Series race this upcoming season.

As for Wallace, he too will be back in the NNS. He’ll remain a full-time driver for his father, whom helped make this deal with Penske happen. Wallace finish 10th in points last season and is still searching for his first career win.

While the Daytona 500 is marked on the calendar, it will be the only Cup race in his immediate future. The 23-year-old knows he has a tall order in front of him.

“Well, no real Cup car experience,” he said.

“Ran some ARCA cars back in the day when there was no COT stuff. But this track’s really a cool track. It’s really, really smooth out there. It’s just like Talladega minus just a couple little bumps down there in three and four, but nothing to worry about.

With the new pavement and getting the opportunity to not only make his first Cup start, but also in the Daytona 500, Wallace knows he’s a lucky individual. During his availability with the media he kept using the word excited.

When the green flag flies for the race, Wallace believes that he’ll have a great chance to hang with the best in the business. The new pavement has many saying that the competition will be on an even playing field in what could be the most competitive and wildest Daytona 500 in recent memory.

It means, according to Wallace, that it should help rookies.

“I definitely think the new track will be to an advantage for guys like myself that don’t have a lot of Cup experience and whatnot,” he expressed.

“This track before was really, really rough, really slippery. Your car had to handle really, really well. I think with a rookie guy like me in the Cup Series, and a few other guys, this will benefit us because you don’t have to worry about handling and a lot of stuff. You’ve just got to have a really fast car and don’t make stupid decisions. If you can do all of that, you’ll be there at the end. I feel like we can do that.”

Upon hearing that Wallace was going to be entered in the race, reaction was mixed among those in the NASCAR world. From the unkind in terms of his driving talent because of his history of tearing up racecars, to calling him a wildcard, the expectations of his debut aren’t great.

For Wallace, he isn’t setting himself up for greatness either. Entering Speedweeks in early February will him with his own list of goals.

“Well, I think that’s a really big step for me,” he said.

“This is the Daytona 500. I’m a rookie at this. This is my first race. I’m not coming down here to win the race. I’m coming down here to have a strong finish, run good, get some respect, don’t crash the car, and finish the race. If we can do that, I feel like we’ll have a shot at it.

A rookie has never won the Great American Race but a few have seen success. In 2004, Scott Wimmer finished third driving for Bill Davis Racing. Wallace could become the first driver to ever accomplish the feat if he pulls off the upset. He would also be the first Wallace to win the Daytona 500.

“I’ve seen a lot wilder stuff happen down here. There’s been a couple of guys that have won this race that’s kind of been a little weird. But my dad’s never won here. He won the Bud Shootout. I’ve never won here. We’ve always run well here. We’ve had a couple top 10s and good strong runs.

“But most importantly, this Daytona 500 is a really big deal for me and my family. Of course, this is I believe of the four Wallaces, I think it’s the longest or most Daytona 500’s out of any family or something like that. I’m just down here to get some respect and run good.”

The 2011 Sprint Cup Series is officially underway as has begun in Daytona Beach for the 53rd running of the Daytona 500.

That means the six-pack is being chilled.

“We like beer, so it works,” says five-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]As Johnson looks to add another title to his growing collection, the campaign moves from ‘Drive for Five’ to ‘Six-Pack.’ It’s going to be storyline A this season because again it’s a season where Johnson is the head of the class. Again the driver 42 others are chasing.

This past offseason the same questions were posed, can Johnson do it again? What are Johnson’s odds of winning six in a row?

The simple answer: his chances are just as good now as they were the last five seasons.

They aren’t winning the most races in a season – but they win the championship. Sometimes, they don’t even have the best pit crew – but they win the championship.

All of which has left drivers and fans shaking their heads time in again.

It also leaves for a long offseason. Lists are complied of why he will and won’t repeat. There’s the list of which drivers are going to be contenders and who has the best shot to dethrone the No. 48 team.

But the truth is it’s becoming quite hard to find reasons why Johnson won’t or can’t do anything. The seasons roll on and every list gets smaller.

Welcome to 2011, the newest season of trying to escape déjà vu.

As you do, Johnson and his team have been hard at work. Crew chief Chad Knaus was adamant in Homestead that once the 2010 season ended the 2011 season had begun. Take the pictures with the trophy, collect the check, load the car on the truck and head back to Charlotte.

It needs to be torn down and looked over for research purposes. After all, he finished second in Homestead and it needs to be found out why he didn’t win.

Knaus was already lining up testing dates and building new racecars. When team owner Rick Hendrick announced changes to three of the four HMS teams, Johnson’s was left intact and kept on working. Not having to move or blink an eye.

It’s a wonder why Johnson worries about anything with the work ethic of his team, but he’s always thinking. It started at the end of last season when wondering how competitive his team was going to be and what the competition was going to look like.

Have no fear Johnson fans, the Lowe’s team knows what they need to do and how they need to do it. Race wins are still up for grabs. Championships sit ripe for the taking.

Johnson sits 10th on the all-time wins list after finding victory lane six times in 2010. His total is 53 and should he win seven more this season he’ll be at 60 career wins in 10 years, putting him third on the wins list.

He sits third on the list of Sprint Cup champions with five. NASCAR fans are well aware what winning anymore would do. While he’s already entering the discussion of one of the greatest NASCAR drivers in history, adding any more championships would start a whole new discussion about greatness.

“I would love to get 10 straight,” Johnson said after Homestead last November.

“I don’t know how ridiculous that sounds. But, in your mind, shoot, I would love to do X, Y, and Z. The realistic side, there’s no telling how long it’s going to last and I think we are all shocked it’s gone on this far.”

No one thought he would get five straight, what’s another five more?

It’s time to not only think ahead to title number six but to what’s after that: Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

They may not come consecutively and don’t have to, Johnson’s already going into the history books and the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Some might think the pressure is beginning to get to him. Not just from wondering when it’s all going to come to a screeching halt, but of knowing whom he’s chasing. But Johnson has never been a driver to get ahead of himself.

One race and one year at a time has always been their motto.

His drive and focus may be unmatched by another driver. At 35-years-old Johnson isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, whether another title comes this year or a few down the road, it’s a long shot to think he’s done winning.

Mark Martin is still racing at 51 years of age. Earnhardt passed away at 49-years-old. Johnson isn’t going to lose talent from one year to the next and it doesn’t look good for those hoping he’ll wake up one day and decide he has enough championships.

For the last half decade, Johnson has shown fans something they may have never seen before. Now as he looks for a sixth Sprint Cup Series championship he’s trying to show fans something else they’ve never seen before and not just in how many titles he can win back-to-back.

He’s showing fans that a driver can and is closing on two drivers that were thought to never be touched.

“If I can seam together seven [championships] in any shape or form to tied those two greats, I would be extremely honored,” said Johnson.

“If I was ever able to surpass them, it would be out of this world.”

Before Johnson had wrapped up his fifth championship last season his father Gary Johnson was already looking ahead.

As the command to fire engines was given in Homestead for the Ford 400, the elder Johnson exclaimed, “We’re going for the six-pack and you can quote me on that!”

Wonder what he must be thinking now.