DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- It was all Dale Earnhardt Jr. in
Friday night's Winn-Dixie 250 Busch Series race, as he led all 100
laps at Daytona International Speedway.
Earnhardt has won all three Busch races he has entered this
year, including the race here in February and in Talladega in
April. He also won his last Busch start last year in Richmond,
giving him four in a row.
"We stayed out front all night," Earnhardt said. "I didn't
think that was possible. It was possible. It's a lot easier to be
out front than run second."
Michael Waltrip, Earnhardt's teammate in Winston Cup but driving
his own Busch car, tried in vain to catch the leader. The Daytona
500 winner was unable to challenge Earnhardt and wound up 0.161
seconds, about 3 car-lengths behind on the 21/2-mile oval.
Waltrip had one last shot at Earnhardt on a restart with nine
laps remaining after a crash brought out the last of three caution
flags. But Earnhardt's No. 8 Chevrolet stayed out front and Waltrip
couldn't get close enough to make a run at the winner.
It was a strong warmup for both Earnhardt and Waltrip, who go
into Saturday night's Pepsi 400 Cup event here as the favorites.
"I got a little celebrating to do and maybe a little more
tomorrow," said Junior, a two-time series champion (1998, 1999)
and now owner of 18 Busch wins.
Both drivers took only two new tires on their final pit stop,
with Earnhardt barely beating Waltrip off pit road.
"The only chance we had was on pit road," Waltrip said.
"Junior was asking for four (tires) and they overruled him and
gave him two. It would have been interesting to see what we could
have done if we'd gotten the lead."
Jamie McMurray, another Winston Cup regular, finished third,
followed by Busch series regular Ron Hornaday Jr., Johnny Sauter
and Scott Riggs, who regained the points lead from David Green, who
finished 37th. Riggs leads by two points, with Hornaday 33 behind
and Todd Bodine -- eighth Friday night -- 43 back.
The last driver to lead from start to finish in a Busch race was
Jeff Burton, who led every lap at Darlington in March 2002.
Winn-Dixie 250 Results
At Daytona International Speedway
Pos.
Start
Driver
Make
Laps
Winnings
1.
1
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Chevrolet
100
$72,725
2.
3
Michael Waltrip
Chevrolet
100
$58,985
3.
30
Jamie McMurray
Dodge
100
$46,645
4.
7
Ron Hornaday Jr.
Chevrolet
100
$47,340
5.
8
Johnny Sauter
Chevrolet
100
$41,950
6.
13
Scott Riggs
Ford
100
$38,550
7.
9
Brian Vickers
Chevrolet
100
$35,700
8.
20
Todd Bodine
Chevrolet
100
$22,890
9.
16
Mike McLaughlin
Chevrolet
100
$21,880
10.
28
Shane Hmiel
Pontiac
100
$27,770
11.
29
Joey Clanton
Pontiac
100
$22,860
12.
34
Ashton Lewis Jr.
Chevrolet
100
$25,550
13.
18
Mike Wallace
Pontiac
100
$25,370
14.
11
Jason Keller
Ford
100
$30,030
15.
23
Kevin Grubb
Dodge
100
$24,820
16.
26
Scott Wimmer
Chevrolet
100
$29,610
17.
12
Coy Gibbs
Pontiac
100
$22,820
18.
6
Joe Nemechek
Pontiac
100
$18,690
19.
10
Stacy Compton
Chevrolet
100
$22,600
20.
22
David Green
Pontiac
100
$28,790
21.
17
Damon Lusk
Dodge
100
$18,360
22.
4
Bobby Hamilton Jr.
Ford
99
$22,270
23.
14
Greg Biffle
Pontiac
99
$19,445
24.
31
Bobby Gerhart
Pontiac
99
$18,005
25.
42
Mike Harmon
Chevrolet
99
$22,015
26.
41
Jason White
Chevrolet
99
$21,805
27.
36
Casey Atwood
Chevrolet
99
$17,650
28.
35
Jeff Spraker
Pontiac
99
$17,515
29.
43
Steve Grissom
Pontiac
99
$17,405
30.
39
Donnie Neuenberger
Ford
99
$19,395
31.
19
Lance Norick
Dodge
98
$17,185
32.
40
Larry Gunselman
Chevrolet
98
$21,095
33.
21
Kerry Earnhardt
Chevrolet
96
$21,315
34.
37
Regan Smith
Chevrolet
96
$20,875
35.
38
Derrike Cope
Ford
95
$18,725
36.
15
Brad Baker
Dodge
93
$16,690
37.
24
Chase Montgomery
Chevrolet
89
$16,655
38.
2
Kasey Kahne
Ford
73
$21,140
39.
5
Mike Bliss
Pontiac
57
$18,560
40.
32
Larry Hollenbeck
Pontiac
38
$16,520
41.
27
David Keith
Ford
14
$16,495
42.
33
Brad Teague
Ford
14
$16,455
43.
25
Jeff Fuller
Pontiac
4
$16,320
Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 153.715 mph. Time of Race: 1 hour, 37 minutes, 35 seconds. Margin of Victory: 0.161. Caution Flags: 3 for 13 laps. Lead Changes: 0 among 1 drivers. Lap Leaders: D. Earnhardt Jr 1-100. Top 10 in Points: S. Riggs - 2,440; D. Green - 2,438; R.
Hornaday Jr. - 2,407; T. Bodine - 2,397; J. Keller - 2,356; B.
Vickers - 2,352; B. Hamilton Jr. - 2,249; J. Sauter - 2,210; S.
Hmiel - 2,125; S. Wimmer - 2,123.
