Earnhardt Jr. Wins in No. 3 Car

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. â€”  On the track where his father was killed a year ago on the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove a No. 3 Chevrolet to victory Saturday in the Live Well 300 Busch Grand National race at Daytona International Raceway.

Rain delayed the start for 21/2 hours, but the 150,000 spectators who sat it out were rewarded with an exciting and poignant race.

Second was Michael Waltrip, reversing the finish of last year’s Daytona 500 in which he and Junior finished one-two in cars owned by Earnhardt.

“I’ve been either first or second in the last six races I’ve run here,� Junior said. “I think it’s because I like this race track so much. If I could, I’d run here every week. It’s a great racetrack in a great city. I just feel fortunate to be able to do well here.�

It was the first time car owner Richard Childress had entered a car with ‘3’ on its sides in a race since Earnhardt’s death. It is the number Earnhardt drove for 18 seasons with Childress.

It was also the second consecutive time that Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip had finished nose-to-tail at Daytona, having done the same thing last July in the Pepsi 400, the first time Winston Cup drivers came to Daytona after the elder Earnhardt’s death.

“I’m glad I had the chance to drive the No. 3, I have to thank Richard Childress for that,� Junior said. “People have wanted to make this out as a tribute to my father, but it was something that the Nabisco people planned last year with Richard and my father. Richard could have used someone else to drive. I’m glad it was me, but I didn’t want to make a big deal of it.�

One of the first people to greet the winner was Teresa Earnhardt, Dale’s widow and Junior’s stepmother and owner of the car he will drive in today’s Daytona 500.

“I know my winning in the No. 3 car would have made my daddy happy,� he said.

Earnhardt dominated the second half of the race, leading 59 of the 120 laps, including the last 46. Waltrip, who was a lap down at one time, fought his way back to the leaders with the help of Little E, but never made a serious run at his Winston Cup teammate.

“Junior just had the fastest car out there today,� Waltrip said. “Man, it’s so hard to pass. People say, ‘Why didn’t you do something?’ Well, I was doing a lot, but it’s just real hard to pull it off.

“But I’m proud that Dale Jr. and I on the last four race days in Daytona have been one, two.�

Jimmy Spencer, smarting from failing to qualify for today’s 500, led 29 laps and was challenging Earnhardt Jr. for the lead five laps from the end when a cut tire sent him high in Turn 4 and into the pits for a new tire. Spencer was given a stop-and-go penalty for not stopping in his pit box. His response was to back up his Pontiac and drive it to the garage.

Matt Kenseth finished third and Jason Keller fourth, both in Fords. Earnhardt won the Busch series in 1998 when Kenseth was second, and again in 1999 before joining his father’s Winston Cup team in 2000.

*

Two people died in a helicopter crash in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., while on the way to pick up NASCAR team owner and former Washington Redskin coach Joe Gibbs.

*

Associated Press contributed to this report.