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Missing Dale Everyone feels it, but teams are in Daytona to race
Daytona is going to feel different this time. Every driver in the garage is feeling that way, I'm sure. Every crew member, every car owner ... you can't forget what happened there in February. We're all going to have a different-type feeling pulling through the tunnel and walking into the garage area. No doubt, everybody is missing Dale Earnhardt. He was just such a huge part of this sport, there is no way you can't miss him. I don't know that we'll go through the fourth turn differently or anything like that. I just know we'll miss him -- just like we've missed him every day since the Daytona 500. The hard thing is we still have to go to work. We can't sit around and reminisce, or anything like that. There just isn't time. Daytona is still Daytona, and no matter who you feel, how your car is working or how far behind or ahead you might be, Saturday night they are going to start that race -- and you have to be ready for it. Daytona is a great place to start each season, but it's a great place to start the second half of each year, too. There is just something about the place. For a stock car racer, it's kind of where you go to "renew" yourself. That's kind of the way we're looking at Daytona. This race starts a brand-new season for us. Whatever happened in the first half of the year is behind us now. The good stuff, the bad stuff ... we're forgetting all of that and moving ahead. Our goal is to win the second half of the season. We'd like to be at a point come Atlanta (in November) where we point back to this race and can say, "Hey, the last half of the season, we had more points and more wins than anybody else." We're capable of that. This team has done some pretty good stuff so far this year. We've been right on the verge of winning some races and winning some poles, and we think we can get everything right where we want it and have a great second half. We want to make a run for the "second half championship." Daytona has been a good track for me and for this race team through the years. We've been able to run pretty well in the 500 and in the July race too. Being able to run well in both says something about a race team because the races are just totally different. It goes further than just the distance. From a driving standpoint, there really isn't that much difference in 400 miles and 500 miles. It's not something you feel or something you think, "Man, that extra 100 miles is tough." If anything, it's the fact that you have less time to get things done. If you're leading the race, 400 miles is plenty. If you're trying to run somebody down for a position, 400 miles isn't nearly enough and, sometimes, neither is 500 miles. The sunlight factor is probably the biggest difference. Temperature-wise, there isn't a whole lot of difference usually between the two races. It's warm but usually not too hot in February. In July, the temperature is usually the same since we're running at night. The humidity gets a little tougher on you in July, which can affect your engine a good bit. But the lack of sunshine on the race track helps keep the track more consistent, which can help your car some. For the most part, the differences end up being a wash. They've done us a favor with the schedule this year. Having that last practice Friday night will help a lot of teams. In the past, most of the practices were during the day and they just weren't that helpful. The past has been a serious of educated guesses on setup. With the new schedule, as long as rain doesn't interfere, a lot of teams are going to be a lot closer on setups. That Friday night practice -- Happy Hour -- is when you'll end up making almost all of your decisions regarding setup for Saturday night. You make some decisions before you get there, and one or two as the weekend moves along, but that final practice is where everything gets done. Want to know who's going to run up front Saturday? Then take a hard look at what happens Friday night. We think we're going to have a pretty good Friday night and a really good Saturday night at Daytona. This is the first race of the rest of the season, and this Mobil 1 Taurus bunch is ready for it. Jeremy Mayfield is in his fourth year driving the Penske Racing/Mobil 1 No. 12 Ford. His diary will appear weekly on CNNSI.com in 2001.
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