Dale Earnhardt finally wins the Daytona 500 | 1998 Daytona 500 | NASCAR Classic Race Replay

43 will start the great american race here's the starting lineup for the first time ever brothers are on the front row the lebanese bobby and terry in row two sterling marlin two-time winner and dale earnhardt his 20th try to win this race dale earnhardt a two-time winner and mike waltrip second in their qualifying race jimmy spencer winner of the bud pre-shootout and mike skinner last year's pole sitter ward burton eighth last year and ernie irving the 1991 winner derek cope who was in victory lane in 1990 and rusty wallace his 16th try to win the big race jeremy mayfield six last year and jeff burton fifth two years ago mark martin is best finishes third in 95 and lake speed second in 1985. john andretti won the 400 miler here last july andy hillenberg two-time arca champ bill elliott a two-time winner of the 500 next to rookie from vermont kevin lepage chad little his seventh five hundred and bobby hamilton new into a car that has won here three times mike wallace hopped in phil barkdahl's car early in the week greg sacks last eight years eight different teams he's driven for jeff bodine the 86 winner next to connecticut rookie jerry nadeau rick mast finished fourth in 1991 and joe nemechek won yesterday in the 300-miler jeff gordon defending champion of the 500 and robert presley makes his fifth start ken schrader a hard crash thursday but he's ready to go for that million dollar bonus and ricky craven 30 year ago long island rookie steve park driving for earnhardt and ageless dick trickle dave marcus his 31st straight 500 and rookie billy standridge ted musgrave finished fourth here in 95 and rookie kenny irwin jr kyle petty third generation driver and ricky rudd third in 81. steve grissom last year the front row this year the back row for he and provisional starters brett bodine and the champions provisional to the 1989 winner daryl waltrip there are 43 cars in the field here today racing for 500 miles 200 laps on this two and a half mile track fuel went to 45 to 50 laps racing for more than seven million dollars and the race record was set by our own buddy baker back in 1980 let's take a look at this daytona international speedway here's the start finish line 18 degrees of banking here 31 degrees of banking in the turns what does 31 degrees of banking look like we'll bring our graphic up here our car that's what it looks like but to the drivers when they go into the turns at 200 miles an hour it looks almost flat in today's race you will have 18 new ford tauruses you will have three ford thunderbirds 16 chevrolets and six pontiacs drivers who failed to qualify for this race listed in alphabetical order kenny wallace lost that final shot on the last lap of his qualifying race robert presley held him off today you're going to ride along with the man who seeks to win his first 500 after 20 starts it's not just that dale earnhardt hasn't won this race it's how close he's come how many times he'll start fourth today mark martin led the most laps here in last year's race he's still looking for his first win in the 500. jeff beaudine one win a total of seven top ten finishes in this race rick mast makes his eighth daytona 500 start jeff gordon last year the seventh driver to win the daytona 500 and the winston cup championship in the same season ricky craven started last year's race in the last row and finished third kenny irwin jr is one of six drivers running their first daytona 500 today dale jarrett is one of only six drivers to have won this race more than once he'll start fifth from roush racing jeff burton won three winston cup races last year his fifth daytona 500 start is today and john andretti hops into the throne of the king richard petty's pontiac he'll start 17th he won the winston cup 400 here last july 4th mike we're about ready to get this daytona 500 underway dan marino not just an observer and the flag waiver he's the co-owner of car 13 driven by jerry nadew pretty quiet out there as the lights are out on the pontiac safety car those butterflies are turning in the stomachs of those drivers but they're about to leave them here right now and to start the 50th anniversary season of nascar the 40th daytona 500 is underway the brothers lovati head off with the lead but jeff gordon got a slow start he was down on the apron when they dropped the green flag gordon comes up to speed has 43 cars uncoiled on the back straightaway [Music] from overhead turn four a new look at this race boy that's exciting to see that i've never been that high but i felt like i have when i got the wall here a few times look at these cars already three wide down through the trials in here the lavoni brothers are working together sterling marlin in third spot there they go right to the bottom of the racetrack early part of the race but you have a few of them trying to top side already for the first time ever bobby lavonny leads the daytona 500 only four races last year were one from the pole that's lobati's green pontiac tremendous amount of debris on the back straightaway there that's sandwiches and various things of paper but these cars have very various holes in the front to get air into the cooling of this car that could be a problem later it could be it doesn't take much to stop up that grill so they don't get the air they need the roof cams are back at cbs and in nascar racing nascar legislated them away we brought them back here at daytona with nascar's approval you're right on top of the windshield of jeff bodine's car if you want to know what it looks like to the driver this is the closest you can get you go down in the corner this is what we call the high groove up against the wall there a lot of drivers feel they're safer on the high side if something happens to the car you don't get the big run toward the outside wall and as you notice as they went through that turn it didn't look like it was 31 degrees of banking rick bass rather that's jeff bodine a piece of debris up on the camera and now rick mast right behind jeff bodon dave marcus down low starting his 31st 500 and three of rest that's mike wallace is the meat in that sandwich as they come off the corner boy this is not a good area of the track to be running three abreast i'm not sure there is a good area of the tractor good point everyone makes it through okay the front seven cars have broken out single five from that back straight away tilting sharply into that 31 degree banking of turn three there's those seven cars out front single five bobby labonte the engineer daryl walter driving the caboose ralph shaheen mike there was actually no problem with jeff gordon in fact crew chief ray everham is proud of his driver apparently somebody in front of jeff slowed down and jeff duck to the bottom to avoid him he really saved the front end of the race car good news for the defending champion of the 500 now bill elliott well he's the burger and the bun on the low side is bobby hamilton and on the outside number two is rusty wallace and there's not a thing in the world that can do about it mike you don't want to be in that position but what can you do about it there's nowhere to go here comes mark martin and the sixth car there that's the blue and white car and you can see on the bottom side bill needs to get in line right now if you don't he's just gonna go to the back he has some help one looked over decided not to go with him so you can watch him just fade back and say go by you're riding with mark martin that white dotted line denotes the edge between the banking and the flat apron of the racetrack don't go left to that line not unless you want to end up after you get to the wall and back down there again that's where you'll finally end up bill elliot cannot find a lane he is in the middle by himself and that's no man's land because the groups just stream right past on either side now he's going to get some help from dick trickle number 90 and he gets to the low groom back here chad little for a moment was also in that same position but thank goodness elliot got himself [Music] bobby and terry lavonnie and sterling marlin qualifying race winner on thursday with the two drivers the time trialled on to the front row and look at that orange car on the top groove michael waltrip coming and keep your eye just below him at dale earnhardt he's moving up right now you see the two of them side by side earnhardt gets the spot moves in front of michael waltrip as they head down the back straightaway now back in the fourth place car earnhardt looking at michael waltrip who drives for the wood brothers proud of that 76 victory with david pearson in 72 with aj point perhaps boys to win it again you say waltrip looking to the outside in the 125-mile qualifying races this week he was very strong on the high side of the racetrack that's dale jarrett just under him they're moving towards the front dale jarrett pulls up alongside in the low groove and dale jarrett has eight cars lined up directly behind him he has been running the low groove since the green flag dropped sometimes the high group that get a run off there can be better but right now seems to be working pretty good for you and that seven car single file line is now just five as they jostle behind the black car of dale earnhardt derrick ernie irvin down to the inside and that rainbow colored number 36. one of the fastest cars in practice all week has been irvin yeah he's very very confident i had dinner with him last night and he just said hey i've got as good of cars i've ever had here dick bergeron roger penske is a captain of american industry he could be in one of the fighter's suites here in daytona instead he is on top of the highest grandstand in the place spotting for his driver rusty wallace rusty just called up and said roger where would you like you to run high or low he said you're doing a good job just hang in there look at rusty and his teammate right there jeremy mayfield the 2 and the 12 cars similarly painted they are teammates ned they look like they've got a trailer hitch between them i'm sure that that was playing mike we saw a lot of cars drafting in practice out there yesterday together to see which ones worked good together and jeremy mayfield was very very good in that 12 car so he's right there with his partner now ernie irving still on the inside there outside of him last year's pole setter mike skinner when they're running side by side and the lebanese boys are all staying single right now the draft works so much better with cars in line than cars that are racing back in the pack and she'll lose almost two or three tenths per lap to the lead cars when they're running single files 42 cars still in the lead draft the only one that's out of the draft right now is daryl walter second place sterling marlin on the inside that blue and silver number 40. look who's coming with him here comes earnhardt taking notes dale earnhardt has led every single lap number of the daytona 500 except for four laps one of them being of course lap 200 the final one now it's jeff bodine the man in the middle ken schroeder and that black number 33 moves up just in front of bodine's number seven and way down on the bottom is kyle petty in 44. [Music] ned i'm a little surprised that those five cars running single file up front have not been able to get away from the two wide racing that is surprising most of the time when cars single out they run faster than cars running side by side but look here four abreast down the back stretch jeff garden all the way on the flat part of the racetrack did you see there on the inside that's not racetrack [Laughter] it was for a moment watch number 33 schrader fractured at sternum thursday that's a special blackjack that he's wearing today started 43rd now he's going up into the top 20. he is flying in that andrey petry prepared car and many said that was the car to watch to win it but with an injured driver how could it possibly do with that morgan shepard is standing by to step in should traitor not be able to go the distance he was asked the other day how far would he run he said oh probably the first 200 laps that's how long this race is ken schrader is wearing a flak jacket like rodeo cowboys wear a bull rider's flak jacket a full rider if there ever was one he's a tough customer no doubt now he has lasted that line on the inside of the racetrack up to 19th position after starting 43rd because he crashed his primary car on thursday had to run a backup car in the 500. mike you wonder how hard trader hit the wall on thursday this is the steering wheel he was hanging on to look at how this thing is bent it's all supposed to be straight not even close to straight man he's a tough guy to be out there racing right now straighter one steering wheel nothing ned you and i have probably been them some but i don't think i ever bet one that bad well that was uh dick said he's a tough customer to be out there now that's very determined because he could win an extra million dollars if he he wins third in that inside line 13 laps complete bobby lavonny leads sterling marlon and dale earnhardt here's ralph shaheen my kenny schroeder is racing with a heavy heart today as well a young man by the name of stephen bradley recently passed away due to cystic fibrosis one of kenny's personal charities on his bed he said to kenny kenny please win the daytona 500 for me it's the only thing i've ever asked from you and that is what he is trying to do here today his daughter dorothy told him daddy stephen is racing across heaven cheering you on today to do it though schroeder will have to get past bobby labonte sterling marlon dale earnhardt dale jarrett in fourth derrick cope the 1990 winner in fifth terry lavonnie now back to the sixth spot skinner last year's paul sitter is seventh michael waltrip eighth jimmy spencer ernie irvin that's the top ten and right out of the top 10 is jeff gordon who has come all the way from 29th up to 11. side by side for the lead in the back straight away sterling marlins going to be a force i i predicted he was going to be the guy to watch today and he's leading the race already earnhardt just in tow just behind bobby labonte they're trying to get up on the outside as you see them fighting side by side in the corner on the bottom derrick colt that black number 30 car edging past earnhardt trying to move up in line and secure third spot and earnhardt will have none of it he's not the easiest guy in the world to pass as you can see he's fighting back on the outside terry labonte you're looking back at him right now these guys are going at it there is no two-car draft four-car draft and side-by-side all the way back through [Music] 15 laps complete sterling marlin trying to hold off bobby lavonny dale earnhardt and derek cope in the great american race 18 laps complete dale earnhardt this is his 20th daytona 500 he has now led 18 out of 20 trips to the beach wow there's a new sheriff in town he's taking this thing over right now you see bobby labonte in second there running very well sterling marlin is complaining that the car is not running to suit him but yet he's able to lead and also he's in the top three right now here's the pass for the lead did sterling just move over no he got caught with the draft there you can see the outside line had a good run at him and they just went by him that's exactly what happened earnhardt knows how to work the draft off another car as good as anyone but better than most so now seven cars pull away from the pack single file earnhardt bobby labonte sterling marlin derek co terry lavonny mike skinner but behind mike skinner it's still a slugfest there's the front five as they work turn number three skinner a little bit by himself in sixth place but still feeling the draft and back behind him it's a war zone look at it wow you can see how hamilton and the fourth car come to hitting the wall as he come off the corner there that was even too close to him and it looks as if the cars of that pack are edging forward mike waltrip number 21 is the first car in the top groove and it doesn't look like he's running quite as well no he and dale jerry's trying to follow him through there and they they just simply the cars are passing them by down on the inside you were right the flow groove right now seems to be working the best lines right away and you know the incredible part they're running 200 miles an hour that close to each other and the wind today is gusting a little bit the cars are moving three to four feet in the corners at each other dick berger as dale earnhardt wins leads this race today everybody wonders can he finally win it everything seems to have happened to earnhardt he's been upside down he has had a seagull hit the front of the car he's run out of gas he's had a flat tire all while he's running in the front and last night in the last practice session he lost an engine a push rod failed maybe the bad stuff is all done and over with it today will be earnhardt's day bill stevens there's also a fresh engine in the number two car bobby labonte's pontiac yesterday on the last practice they didn't think that motor had enough power jimmy maycard told me this morning that they have enough power to run up front all day long it's a fresh engine right off the shelf ralph shaheen bill while a lot of teams have been forming multiple winston cup teams to learn new speed secrets the bihari team of driver derek hope have been going over the pond and working with an upper echelon formula one team to develop new things for winston cup competition seems to be working here today 20 laps 50 miles average speed 186 miles per hour we'll be working on buddy baker's record here today keep this up 1980 fastest 500 ever mr baker won it well that's why they call them records they can't be broken these guys are doing a great job out there right now the one thing i'm watching the pontiacs here is some concern they get better they get faster they have a tremendous amount of downforce meaning they have good grip through the corners and right now they run a second and fourth on the position here and you can see the pontiac is a major force this year the top forward at the moment is michael waltrip who is running eighth five cars begin to break away from sixth place mike skinner trying to run down that single file draft skinner number 31 in blue and yellow i believe they're beginning to do it right now that they've sort of singled out back there behind those others 44 right side of your screen that's kyle petty his granddad won this race in 59. his father won it seven times and kyle's making a charge he started 39th he's moved up to 16th pontiacs on the top side of the racetrack right there petty andretti and also uh chad little they're coming on the high side and really moving by that red white number 23 there jimmy spencer he was one of the favorites going into this race because he runs so well in the qualifying race in the bud shootout last weekend he got down on the inside we just didn't go for it now he's getting up another line maybe he can pick up a little bit three wide you're going into the turn chad little on the high side and that green car had to give way kenny irwin jr and 28 was down on the bottom and things got pretty close there going into turn one [Music] bill stevens one of the interesting things we're seeing today are the pontiacs running well nose to tail during practice this week the crew chiefs for the pontiac cars were saying that when they get together in the draft they actually slow down they worked very hard during happy hour yesterday some of the pontiac teams obviously today have found the answer last time a pontiac won this race kale yarborough 1983. a little further in that pack rusty wallace and teammate jeremy mayfield have traded places to see if they'll work better they're three wide again ernie irving in the middle there you can see him he thought better that move right there on the outside there michael waltrip is really running well on the high side of the restaurant and michael walter made the same move at the same time going in they were going to move up to that crew and michael waltrip had already committed himself too far and ernie wisely backed out of that situation it's awful early in the race we have pit stop to consider racing right now you're really getting an idea what you need to do as far as adjustments for later on in the race let's check with ralph with michael waltrips number 21 the orange car that gear change on wednesday's late afternoon practice has made all the difference he finished second in the twin 125s and he's running up to the front here all because of one gear change that's waltrips 21 on the outside he won the winston all-star race but he's looking for his first point race win cloudy cool and very windy here at daytona bobby lobotti said his car was really getting buffeted around there's mike skinner on the bottom 31 michael waltrip up top chevy versus four and here are your leaders mike you can see the first five cars they're beginning to get a little gap on the next group of cars there that's because they're not racing they're staying in line these guys are double fouled now that's something we saw worked a very good effect yesterday yes we did in the 300 mile grand national race and just moments ago two or three laps ago those cars back there had singled out and it caught the front runners and then they decided they wanted to go racing again we'll see how quickly they can lose that draft and the others pull away but now those five cars in the lead draft are about to be joined by three mike skinner in 31 now has michael waltrip and ernie irvin working single file the draft here is so important why well you have a car out front breaking the air up and it's turbulating if you ever been in a boat and watch the water actually try to follow the boat from behind that's what the air does if it goes over these race cars it builds a vacuum that pulls the car behind towards the lead car also you're not bucking any wind or anything in the second third fourth and fifth car so in line it feels like you have two motors instead of one in there you really accelerate dale earnhardt your leader looking back the pole sitter bobby labonte the green car and just behind them sterling marlin went up to the high side of the racetrack and he is getting kicked well back in the field mike skinner has gone past him so is michael waltrip and now to ernie irvin he got shuffled out coming off of turn two no going to help him up there the others just drove by down on the inside you can see sterling marlin car number 40 is up there by himself with nobody's drafting on him right now and that just proves buddy's point one car alone cannot hold as fast as cars lined up single five ralph mike we talked to the crew chief tony glover for sterling marlin they are getting a little bit loose in that number 40 car right now and that's why he is drifting back with 29 laps down they've still got a long way to go to that first pit stop dick bergen well bobby labonte and derek cole both say they're pushing coming off the corner but most of the drivers that we are listening to on the radios are telling their crews they're having a hard time differentiating between chassis problems and the wind buffeting them around on the racetrack that'll make it especially difficult for them to adjust the cars when they come in on pit stops jeff beaudine into the tri-oval here at the start finish line 18 degrees of banking let's see as they roll off into turn one just how much those cars are dancing around we're on the high side and really you don't get the effects of the wind like if you're a little bit away from the wall where the wind's really traveling about but what it feels like you've passed a car on the interstate and your car gets in that vacuum and it feels like it pulls you towards the truck as you go by that's what the draft feels like and if you have any extra wind it really gets a little bit squirrely now jeff gordon pulled up on number two just ahead rusty wallace wallace came right down the racetrack to take that low lane away from gordon 30 laps complete dale earnhardt 20 years of trying to win the great american race he is your leader bobby labonte derek cope terry lavonny mike skinner and michael waltran [Music] dale earnhardt leads the daytona 500 after 34 laps pole sitter bobby labonte see that big orange dot on the upper windshield of labonte's car that signifies he's one of five cars eligible for rj reynolds one million dollar bonus from finishing in the top five at talladega in october they can put an extra million in the bank if they win here today it's part of a season-long promotion and this race pays a million already to the winner so one of those five drivers that they could win it that's two million dollars we have the first pit stop coming up right now as we see them go down into turn one kyle petty leaders continue as green flag pit stops begin this looks a little early as kyle petty comes in for right side tires on number 44. up front earnhardt in a chevrolet labonte's pontiac derrick cole then terry lavonny in fort mike skinner earnhardt's teammate in fifth dick bergeron pitstops will be coming up fairly soon larry mcreynolds is crew chief for dale earnhardt when will you pit and what will you do well we can run about 60 or 62 laps on fuel but you know what daytona you got to kind of go with the flow you know even though we can run that far we may have to come a little early because that's when most of the group might come but definitely change four tires four tires early in the race means a lot here racetrack just keeps getting slicker and greasier happy with the car yeah you know right now if i knew it was going to be leading we'd put more tape on it because it's looking pretty cool right now but we can't count on leaving all day long and our tire carrier just made it david rogers who had a baby girl about eight o'clock this morning so uh proud for him proud to have him here now o'leary is not leading anymore here comes bobby labonte and derek cope with him another pontiac pushing a pontiac as they go by earnhardt down through the triangle and down towards turn one we said on yesterday's show to take the lead you need to have a friend bobby labonte found one there and derek cole one thing he has to do though he has to deal with the three car earnhardt fights back as they head to the back straightaway side by side down through there and there's a bright bit of color right in that pack and here it comes jeff gordon is caught in the front pack he's nestles right up behind dale jarrett's board he saw jerry go high going jared's been running high between his turns one and two and gordon saw that and said hey let me try that they got a good run and picked off a couple of positions jeremy mayfield's number 12 inside of jeff gordon and jarrett terry labonte inside and he bumps derrick colt you'll see a big black donut a wheel mark on the right side of labonte's yellow and white machine here comes ernie irving making it turn one these guys are going at it like it's the last and it's only the 38th lap now gordon has moved down to the outside and it's working and they're terrible body gets another bump into mike skinner and skinner may have brushed the wall in that encounter gordon rusty wallace go by unscathed is it way too early for this kind of action oh way too early no question about that but as larry mcreynolds pointed out the track is beginning to get slicker now the tires are getting hot they've been out there for almost 40 laps sliding around a lot terry labonte is definitely having a little bit of trouble with this car you could see the back of his car losing grip getting a little bit sideways off the corner and he had to chase it up the back and he got into mike skinner getting off the corner over there skinner hit the outside wall lucky we didn't have a caution there joining that group of front cars there is kenny schrader who started back in 31st so he's done a great job of coming up through the pack look at car just in front of mark martin dance coming off the corner that's a pretty bad feeling when you have to turn right to go left when that back end starts around you have to steer into the slide and that's the going opposite of what you really need to do good handling race cars you turn left to go left off turn four oh and lebani again that car just wiggled loose just a bit in the blink of an eye you've got to catch it and set it straight now a blink would be too long you can see the flag there it's really blowing around right now but that's uh that's just part of the story there's a 200 mile an hour wind out there between the cars and when you get up beside somebody the vacuum from the inside car to the outside car is unbelievable three of rest again off turn two ken schroeder in that green 33 and trying to squeeze between him and 99 jeff burton it's dale jarrett the 96 winner and look at kenny irwin buddy he has come from 38th position up there with the lead pack that's that black and red number 28 there's erwin the rookie bill stevens kenny irwin is flying mark reno the crew chief just told me the biggest problem they've had with him today is telling him to be patient he has been wanting to get out of this double file deal since the beginning of the race but remember he crashed in one of the qualifiers the other day and the spot is really trying to calm him down they ran him in the arca race the other day he won the race and he said i had no idea how much i had to learn and he learned so much by winning that race and actually getting in the competition before the daytona 500. on board kenny irvin today's in-car telemetry provided by first plus financial getting close to 190 miles an hour there at one point seven seven to 200 rpms and he heads back toward the start finish line 41 laps complete bobby labonte leads dale earnhardt ernie irvin derrick cope jeremy mayfield has fought his way into the top five and last year's winner jeff gordon is on the move [Music] we are still under green from the drop of the first flag 45 laps dale earnhardt has gone back to the front bringing ernie irvin to number 36 with him a chevy and a pontiac derrick copes number 30 in the fourth place chevrolet has led 23 laps today pontiac 22 ford has not put a car up front not yet i am so impressed with jeremy mayfield running along here i mean moved to fourth place way back he's doing a super job right now he started in 13th position bobby labonte got himself from the lead back to about seventh place that green car in the lead draft put urban up on the outside yeah and look at jeff gordon on the inside there just behind jeremy mayfield and the orange nose car as he goes up into another position there he moved all the way up into fifth right now look at irvin alone in the top lane he is being as they say in the garage area hung out to drive or clothesline there's nothing else with him now he is tacked onto the back of the lead draft but it cost him three spots gordon in fourth now he's moving up 100 miles 186 3.8 miles per hour [Music] that's as close as we can show you to how fast that feels folks someday you have to come here stand next to that fence and feel it for yourself i've been up against that wall at 200 miles an hour and i couldn't get out of the way too one car way up high almost brushing the wall back of the leaders as they try to work in that second pack and that was michael waltrip in 21. he really kicked the dust up at the top of the wall but don't believe he made any contact with it michael was up there in the top five a little while ago but now has dropped back to around cancer 11. he and mark martin drafting together those are two of the new ford taurus body style guys it's time to talk about pit stops a little bit there's a lot of things going on down there you can see the the crew starting to move around getting ready for the first pit stop deals are being made who will they come in with everybody's trying to pick it up here oftentimes when the leader comes to pit road under green many of the top contenders follow but crew chiefs and their emissaries scurry up and down pit road talking to other teams trying to make deals on who might stop when at the front of the field dale earnhardt as he's been so many times before and this time just as on the last lap of 1990 he has derrick cope filling up his rear-view mirror that time earnhardt cut down a tire and cope went on to victory pit stops begin this is andy hillenberg in the sadler brothers chevrolet making his first stop of the day [Music] 49 laps ned getting close let's uh let's check with dick berger and dick have they made a deal in earnhardt's pit and how long will they wait well it's hard to tell if they really have made a deal i could answer your second question and the answer to it is nine more laps that earnhardt is going to be in i can also tell you that we have had men with virtually every uniform from the front group in earnhardt's pit trying to make that deal with larry mcreynolds it's a good bet that they all will come in at the same time and that they all will take four tires mike 50 laps will be halfway 125 or rather will be 125 miles quarter distance 41 of 43 cars on the lead lap and one car comes off into the pits it looks like ernie irving to the front runners that will be making a pit stop here it is indeed ernie irving to head towards the bill 36. bill stevens ernie irvin slides into the pitch ryan pemberton was just talking to john wolfe from the interstate battery bobby labonte car and their deal was let's do four tires they only wanted to do two but bobby said well my car's a little bit shaky out there i'm gonna need the four so ernie irvin and bobby labonte should be getting tires on all four corners also two rounds of wedge in the right rear and away ernie goes ernie irvin though by pitting by himself has lost that lead draft good stop 19 and a half seconds dave marcus is in one thing ernie irvin does not want to see now is a caution flag he would go a lap down he is on the same straightaway with the lawyers put him a lap down going through the second turn over there you cannot make a pit stop at daytona without losing a lap the nascar mandated 65 mile per hour speed limit down pit road is largely responsible for that earnhardt picks up the draft off ernie irvin and he will pull the field past him as irvin will need a full lap and then some to come up to full speed with these restrictor plate engines it does take more than the lap to come up to full speed nothing you can do about it just sit there and watch them drive by dave marcus has pitted greg sacks number 98 is in and steve grissom last year's front row starter driving for kale yarborough a multiple winner of this event drake sacks makes his first stop of the day the leaders stay out earnhardt kentucky up to third and jeff gordon the youngest driver ever with this event is up to fourth place more cars from the back of the field coming into the pits big group of them coming in ted musgrave is in john andretti part of that group as well steve park bobby hamilton rick mask and jerry nadu and also ricky rood most of these are cars that started in the second half of the field and seeing the leaders move away and seeing their cars running a little bit slower feel of putting on new tires will pick them up in speed that's why they're in a little earlier than some of the leaders now here come the roger penske and penske granifus cards onto pit road teammates jeremy mayfield and rusty wallace of course sterling marlon tried to get in apparently he felt he's going too fast slid the wheels slowed down too much he's going to lose a tremendous amount of time sterling marlin he's not up to speed and he'll have to come in perhaps the next time around chad little is in bill elliot lake speed making pit stops ken schrader steve park ricky craven has to back up into his pit stall and backs into the 77 of robert presley excuse me well that cost him a lot of time too ricky craven having to back up there and every second that you lose in the pits is a long way out on that racetrack mike wallace kenny irwin billy standridge all making their first pit stop we've been green since the drop of the first flag jeff gordon's heading towards the pit road now and who will come with him well michael walker is coming with him and mark martin long pit stop for ricky craven here's ralph shaheen mike they were hoping to have somebody come down pit rope with him but they got to the point where they had to come in one way or the other jeff really had to drive hard to fight his way up into the lead pack jackman very much lays the crew around to the right side they will change tires on the car they're not planning on making any chassis adjustments on this number 24. they will take on four tires and send this rainbow colored car back out as quickly as they can also stopping on this lap michael waltrip jeff burton jeff bodine mark martin warren burton dick trickle and daryl waltrip now sterling marlon is in sterling finally got back to the pits he made a miscue they're trying to come in a moment ago and here comes a couple of other front runners terry lavonnie and dale jerry sterling marlins pit right side tires 11 gallons of gasoline in each of those gravity-fed cans and here is terry labonte the outside pole sitter and dale jarrett to his pit cold drink there for terry lobotti a wipe of the grill they use those long poles because only seven men are allowed to go over the pit wall and service the car everything else is done with a long reach from behind pit wall four tires tank of gas cold drink clean windshield goodbye terry levanti back in the race and earnhardt stays on the racetrack with derrick cole and his children's racing teammate the blue and yellow car of mike skinner in third we're here with reynolds told them down in the pitch that they could go 60 left that was very surprising but they could go 150 miles on a tank of fuel but he's steering that right now well yeah i hope he's right because i'll tell you if you run out of gas here that's a long ways to coast around this two and a half mile racetrack dale earnhardt has lost this race in almost every way imaginable in 1986 he ran out of gas while leading and we said that you couldn't make a pit stop and not lose a lamb well jeff gordon and rusty wallace have they're right in front of the leaders and they've made their pit stops and they are back up to speed and that's kind of a break for earnhardt you don't use as much fuel and the draft fall underneath cars along there so this is stretching that fuel mileage just a little bit for it the reason there are less cars in this lead draft is that when those cars are stopped on pit road the rest of the field is moving down the racetrack eating up a football fields worth of distance every second so if you lose one second on the pit stop by taking a little bit longer to change a tire or to fill with gas or to get going well that means everybody else on the racetrack is 300 feet ahead of you okay earnhardt coming in right now derek cole comes down pit road with him 65 miles an hour looks like they're stopped bobby labonte and mike skinner coming in at the same time dick bergeron remember last year at daytona oh earnhardt smokes the tires coming in remember last year at daytona earnhardt's crew was very slow they changed the members on that cruise since then and in fact there are two new outside uh front and rear tire changes jack lewis on the front craig lund on the rear are new this year earnhardt and the 30. hope came in together they are going to do their same service together whoa earnhardt up and down right behind them they're going to try to hook up fast bernhard comes off pit road that yellow line is the blend line you must stay inside that line and then gently blend up into traffic and all four cars there that went into the pits together come out of the pits together tribute to those guys in the pits changing those tires but ned you see is there in the bottom lane it takes a full lap to get up to speed and jeff gordon moves on past dale earnhardt gordon is the new leader that's what great pit stops will do jeff gordon when they come in but he's leading now that's had a great entrance to pitt road got back up to speed well had a great pit stop ray evernham gordon's crew chief and mentor and those rainbow warriors gave jeff gordon a good stop and that's why he leads the daytona 500. rusty wallace got a good stop also and he's running second ralph shaheen mike this top tire here is the one that came off the right front of sterling marlin's car you can see he had gotten a cut it didn't explode like this right away he stayed out on the track and kept running on him running on it as it lost air out of that little hole it finally let go and just about shed its skin he's lucky to get it into the wall sterling marlin trying to win this race again here are your front duo gordon and wallace you're riding with the leader and defending champion of the daytona 500 after 60 laps four different leaders five lead changes and it's a record pace over that mark of buddy baker back in 1980 at 183 miles per hour no cautions to date and everybody is still trucking out on the speedway joining me right now four-time winner of the daytona 500 kayle yarbrough now a car owner first question greg sachs is out there you're running out of the top 30. what's happened to him well we either got a shock going to the bed uh ken or wheel wade i hope that uh on this pit stop that uh that it corrected it uh we just don't know you know so many working parts on these things anything can happen thorn apple valley farm heavy and its problems what about this race kill what do you think well this is some race uh you know to go this long without a caution flag is unusual for the daytona 500 but it's quite a race great american race yeah it sure is you've won it four times what's most memorable to you about winning the daytona 500. oh ken that first one uh something that i'll never forget you know every driver that's ever driven anywhere in the world i guess would like to have a daytona 500 on the resume and uh we did it early on in our career in 1968 and it was probably my one of my biggest wins i'll never forget it it was a great battle with leroy yarborough that year kale good luck let's get back to mike joy and we'll follow this record-breaking race thanks ken you saw dale earnhardt there at ninth place after the round of pit stops and the drivers who pitted with him are in that sideline they're on track two earnhardt stop was 21.4 seconds the man leading the race jeff gordon had a 17.7 second stop and that made all the difference mike we talked about it in the uh introduction to the race today it's so important track position i can't begin to tell you as close as these cars will match right now to be in that front draft here with dale jarrett now there's ernie irvin just ahead the car that fitted all by himself irvin had a good stop and he's in third place just ahead of him rusty wallace and out front leader jeff gordon but that pack has formed up once again among the cars that got good pit stops and the guy who might have had a good pit stop but he miscued coming into the pits with sterling marlon former two-time winner this race he's about to go a lamp down he's not far from being a lap down and boy that is just going to kill him for today now those cars on the inside line pitted with earnhardt there is mike skinner his teammate in 31 bobby labonte in 18 and they picked up a hitchhiker in that inside lane steve park the former modified ace winner of grand national races last year is one lap down he is driving a car owned by dale earnhardt and he has picked up their draft to try and help propel them back to the front at right side of your screen that yellow and black car is part from long island another second generation nascar driver they have bob park one of the top modified drivers finished second to richie evans in the national championship one year this is the group they're trying to catch jeff gordon rusty wallace ernie irvin and dale jarrett dick bergeron rusty wallace currently running in second place has put forth an absolutely herculean effort on this race car that car is a brand new vehicle but it's had six different bodies on it they put a body on the car take it to a wind tunnel learn something cut it off and try all over again they've been to two full-size wind tunnels a 40 wind tunnel repeatedly a tremendous amount of track time at both talladega and here they mean to do better than seventh which so far has been their best ever finish in the daytona 500 bill one of the things some of the teams are concerned with this week in practice was uneven tire wear i just looked at the tires that came off ernie irvin's car in that last pit stop ryan pemberton the crew chief looked at him as well and said boy they look pretty darn good after ernie left the pits he radioed back and ryan said hey buddy your rubber looks pretty darn good after so far in this race mark martin makes a move to the outside and that babbling number six takes the spot from terry labonte the outside pole sitter and now labonte's hung out to dry on the inside you would have to take like terry labani's experience having a problem he was loose a little while ago and i don't think they've corrected he's going backwards right now 68 of 200 laps complete terry labonte back to about eighth position in that draft ralph shaheen this is the right front tire off the jeff gordon's car now remember he started 29th in the race as he came up through the pack he was behind cars he developed a bad push due to the wind buffeting around the car the tire tells a story 141 90 200 degrees across the width of the tire this means this car was pushing severely as was going through the corners now that he is out front the car is nice and loose it's not so bad the tire temperatures will be a lot different the next time around a great charge by gordon but the greatest charge in the history of this race fireball roberts 1959 started 46th without a caution flag he had the lead by lap 23. took jeff gordon 59 laps to lead after starting in 29th he's gained 28 positions that's sterling marlon as you know he was leading the race and jeff gordon's fixing to put him a lap down look at these cars fighting in the back here earnhardt side by side with chad little that's ward burton just behind him they're moving up on the lead pack that's through six through about 20 up there side by side for six place the black car earnhardt in green and yellow chad little you're with dale earnhardt as he chases mark martin down the straightaway to turn one [Music] you see dale jarrett all the way up against the wall there everybody's got an idea right now of where their car runs to frizz dale jarrett right now would love to have somebody to help them on the high side you can see earnhardt's got a toe of the car just in front of him there mark martin so they're going to go right by jared going down in the corner ward burton 22 will be moving up there on the inside there he is or rather there's earnhardt and right with him as ward burton you're on board dale jarrett that robert yates forward in the outside lane he finally got some help chad little's up there with al jarrett just for a moment there he was pedaling backwards man well he's made a move on ernie irving on the outside trying to take off their position that's when it all started and nobody followed her so it's just for a while and that's really hurt well sometimes you just got to go blaze a new trail and hope you get some help mike skinner now in 31 that children chevrolet pulls up behind chad littles jack roush number 97. now they pulled up on sterling marlin i said a moment ago he's about to go lap down that's the 40 car right in front of jeff gordon if he can stay there it'll be okay similar to what jeff gordon did a year ago you know remember he had a flat tire early in the race and he was about to get left and the leaders came around he was able to stay in front of him when a caution came out well he got it all made up so if sterling marlon could do that you know it might not be hurt too bad if jeff gordon passes him marlon has lost one lap to all the cars on the lead lap should that caution flag come out he's got to fight to stay there back in the back they're getting restless you can see him doubling up back here i think a lot of cars right now would like to get up in the front so they can actually drive the racetrack and not have to worry about competition back in the back bobby labonte trying to pick his way back to the front and that bright green number 18 owned by super bowl winning coach joe gibbs joe gibbs told dan marino who's a new nascar car owner this isn't near as easy as winning football games you know they talk about a driver just riding along you can see jeff gordon's arm and that last picture there he's working that steering wheel pretty hard through the corners you can see him just really right on the edge all the time hands moving really fast to keep that car right on the edge and keep it fast through the corners average speed even after pit stops the average speed for this race 184.1 miles per hour sterling marlin number 40 trying to stay on the lead lap and avoid being passed by race leader number 24 jeff gordon cbs sports coverage of the daytona 500 will continue after this message and a word from your local cbs station daytona 500 jeff gordon number 24 the race leader rusty wallace mark martin dale earnhardt and chad little has fought his way up to fifth place boys i tell you what the taurus is beginning to show its strength right now second third place right there rusty wallace and just behind him barton about to put a lap on the ricky jerry nadeau natives had an interesting career no caution yet today as you see he started out racing go-karts for five years then moved to open wheel formula cars road raced here in the united states and in europe decided to come back to america and try his hand at stock cars he drove a couple for richard jackson and now moves on to this new team owned by bill elliott and dan marino and number 13 jerry nedu has been impressive this week the other thing i see earnhardt up to fourth already he's showing a lot of stress today just perfect dale earnhardt's black number three right side of your screen did not have a quick pit stop but has come back fighting to the front now we talked about sterling marlon a moment ago being able to hold on upfront he was not able to and he has gone that lap down up on the high side getting overpassed rather that is mike wallace there marlon a little deeper in the pack mike we saw the problems that terry labonte was having earlier in the race with a loose race car well they were able to help him a little bit and tighten him up some just during that last pit stop the problem is they have not gone far enough that car is extremely loose terry's just trying to hang on to the next round the body number five running just ahead of ward burton and lake speed and here is your lead pack once again nadu doing a good job of hanging on to the lead he's running in 30th position yeah but he's fixing to go lap down you can see gordon look at all the lead cars there as they get single foul that's what happens in the ground i mean you're just out nothing you can do they do is driving the perfect line around the racetrack but these guys hooked up there they just go jerry nader though he's gonna learn a lot about drafting at 190 miles an hour this week it certainly will this is a great experience for him he did a good job in 125 mile qualifying races on thursday and there's nadu being overpassed by bobby labonte and derek cole carrying the dolphin colors there for his new car owner cope in the buhari racing ride vacated by johnny benson after last season vincent torn up in a crash not of his own making in thursday's qualifying race has to sit out the 501 of 13 drivers and came here to run and had to go home she had little in the green car place there that's the thunderbird move that forward on towards the front a little more four teams this year have the option of using the newly approved tourist body style or the ford thunderbird they can use a 98 97 or 96 model year car for chevrolet the monte carlo for pontiac the grand prix those are the approved models most of the four teams have elected to go with the taurus right from the start of the season three in this race have elected to stay with the older body style the thunderbird the choice is up to each individual team owner i bet they're thinking right now i'm gonna call my uh body man as soon as the race is over and get my targets on there well here he pulls out with dale earnhardt earnhardt makes him on the inside but there's dale jarrett he moved to the outside that might cost him the second fifth place cars in line have never won the daytona 500. this man has dale jarrett twice you can see that line snake back and forth as they try to either break the draft or pick up a little momentum i think chad little wants to go here he comes up alongside earnhardt chad little has to be just thrilled to death join the jack roush racing team and you can see this guy is for real he just passed earnhardt did he basically by himself too he didn't have a great deal of health i mean not right on his back bumper bobby levine was back there for a moment but well that's pretty impressive well now he has his teammates just in front of him mark martin can they run these guys down right now they're nose to tails working towards the front that allowed bobby labonte to come right back up into contention number 18 the pole sitter and one of five drivers buying for that million dollar bonus should they win today the others are terry lavonnie ernie irvin kenny schroeder and john andretti i've been watching bobby levanti i mean that car has come from way back and run this lead back down see earnhardt looking to the outside right now bobby the body may be faster 18 laps from halfway and we are caution free thus far here he comes to the outside bobby labonte looks can he make the move going down into turn one he's got some help no he doesn't earnhardt was his best friend right on his bumper and then dale took the number three to the bottom of the racetrack zoomed on pass now he comes up there saying help me now bobby moves up in front of me buddy that looked like the old daytona slingshot you folks would pull with those hemi-powered dodge cars back when they had unrestricted horsepower and not so great aerodynamics well it's back to drivers right now when you make a move like that you hope you don't have to count on him when it really counts dale jarrett was up in that top three and now he's back to 11th place got out of the groove down on the inside and no drafting partner there and boy that just went by right on the outside that's michael waltrip just ahead in the wood brothers four the great part of the draft is if you get the right company around you you can go from 11th to first to two or three laps if you get a good run look ahead of him buddy side by side up there in fourth place earnhardt and chad little chad wrap by himself not good he needs some help bernhard has bobby labonte with him earnhardt number three in 18 and they draw a bead on the ford tourist and mark martin number six boy i love that new shot that hangs out overhead of turn four like a traffic light would okay you're seeing two distinctive different styles of driving right now earnhardt has got the outside groove working when he needs it he'll tuck in every once in a while but he'll try it fare out a little bit run the high side he knows he has that part of the race track if he needs it 50 years of nascar racing 40 daytona 500 and perhaps never won as much in doubt as to the outcome of this one 15 laps to halfway last year's winner jeff gordon leads rusty wallace 16 years he's been looking to lead and win this race so is mark martin so is dale earnhardt so is bobby lavonny chad little derrick cole jeremy mayfield mike skinner and ernie irvin the top 10. [Music] welcome back to daytona our aflac trivia question who was the last driver to win the daytona 500 in consecutive years well hasn't been too long ago mike that one's pretty easy sterling marlin wanted for the team that bobby hamilton is driving for today and jeff gordon is trying to win it in consecutive years today bobby hamilton running into the tail end of the lead lap though in 28th position lee petty in 1959 marvin patch in 1961 and paul roberts in 1962 drove to victory lane in a daytona 500 run without a caution flag fireball was the first driver to win this race starting on the pole mike i have to wonder if earnhardt might be getting a little bit of chassis problems he made a great run up towards the front and now he's moving out on the racetrack and beginning to show a little bit of looseness off the corner the back of the car seems to be dancing around a little bit earnhardt with bobby labonte close behind 89 laps complete let's visit with ken squire the man of the hour is buddy baker that's the big story his record has stood since 1980 of averaging 177 miles an hour to win this race over 500 miles now consider that when he did that there were 15 laps of caution in that race and he still powerhoused the field to establish that mark but it's in jeopardy because as we're coming to halfway they're averaging 184.7 today so buddy baker's mark that has stood all these years is the one they're talking about in the press center right now well i certainly hope that we don't have a caution i i would love i mean i love the idea of having the record but i want these guys to be safe for 500 miles and competitions what the thing is all about doing a great job today jeff gordon trying to take faker out of the record book right here 184 mile an hour average rusty wallace right with him you're in with mark barton here's dick bergeron mark martin currently running in third position it's a bit of a surprise because they got a real late start trying to get their cars ready for daytona they were hoping for some rules considerations from nascar they didn't get them they got started late and all week long they have been saying we may not be a factor we're really not ready for the daytona 500 but the crew has worked hard on martin's car they've done their work on the chassis rather than the aerodynamics he's flying today it is most importantly a brand new crew and a brand new crew chief for the first time in 10 years mark martin does not have steve meal as his crew chief here at the daytona 500. and right now he doesn't have a drafting partner dick he's on the outside and the train's going by and down on the inside jeremy mayfield number 12 pulls alongside bobby labonte has gone past i cannot tell you what a great job jeremy mayfield doing at this moment derek coats going with him in the 30 cars you see him come across mark martin going down the back straightaway there jeremy mayfield running the race of his life right now there weren't inches between cope's car and mark martins when colts slid across up into the high lane in front of mark barton 190 miles an hour the thickness of the sunday paper apart kyle petty on pit road four tire change last car on the lead left in 29th place but he was the earliest one to pit before mike so he's a little off sequence from the others jeff gordon is pulling this train around daytona but it's rusty wallace the man who wants to lead he has not led the daytona 500 since 1991 he sits there in second place in roger penske's number two in the last five daytona 500s wallace has been running at the finish only once earnhardt to the inside on wallace who comes right down to slam the door on his nose and that means i'm not gonna make it guys are going at it right now you don't only race out of the windshield you have a mirror in there that's almost a foot wide to look at your competition back there you'll see right there he pulled over a little bit protected spot earnhardt went to the inside and rusty wallace did the same thing rusty saw him coming he said no sir i'll block that spot behind them they're three of rest in that pack as they try to get past nedu ernie irvin was three abreast with derrick colt mark martin they are again it's michael waltrip on the inside wow what a drive by michael walter down into turn three got a great run off the corner there the guys were kind of racing side by side he got a great slot but look at chad little on the outside the 97 fighting back that's the green car mark martin his teammate both of those roush cars mark martin on the outside there in the white blue six black blue blue six five laps to halfway in the great american race jeff gordon leads rusty wallace and dale earnhardt daytona international speedway the biggest race of nascar the daytona 500 and as they come across the stripe in two laps one of those drivers will be ten thousand dollars richer for leading the halfway lap mike joy with buddy baker ned jarrett can squire about victory lane dick bergeron ral shaheen and bill stevens on pit road 96 97 and 98 are three of the four laps of this race that earnhardt has never led the other is lap 200. earnhardt's trying though every lap he goes upside rescue odds he goes downside it sounds like that chumbawamba song well that'll work right now but i wouldn't want to do that earnhardt with 10 laps to go i can tell you that you might get a different view you might be looking in the mirror watching this straightaway get longer let's take a lap with earnhardt that's the start finishing line you can see the orange line across out against the wall down the straightaway following rusty wallace in the draft they'll go to the bottom of the racetrack earnhardt goes up that's the difference in two ideas of what it takes at this part of the race earnhardt's in the high groove rusty wallace and those guys right on the white line on the bottom against the wall down the back straight away you can see a move over to get in the slipstream so you get that extra toe from the car in front of you as they head down into turn three you can see a lap car there as they start to the high side to get by jeff gordon drifts up the two car there rusty wallace moves up now watch them when they come to the straightaway here they go right out against the wall and right back into the tri-oval that's a lap around daytona and it's the halfway lap ring the cash register for jeff gordon he picks up ten thousand dollars 14 times the halfway leader has gone on to win the daytona 500 including bill elliot twice richard petty twice buddy baker in 1980 or she led almost every lap that year i had a great car a great team that's what it takes i you know i said it at the start of the race it takes great teams but it took 18 since the day the first western cup race was ever run somebody had an advantage by having great people work with him so you can't take all the credit being the driver believe me bobby allison did that twice so did cale yarborough once junior johnson mario andretti aj foyt and davey allison along with baker led the halfway lap and went on to win this is jeff gordon leading the daytona 500 trying to win it two years in a row you see the tape in the middle of the steering wheel that centers up the uh steering is if he was to get in a spin where he had to center up to know where he was back straight that keeps it and also when you make a pit stop you can get the wheel straight so you know where they're at there with that tape when it's straight up that's straight ahead looking out the windshield of jeff gordon's car and according to nascar rules once you reach the halfway point of the race if it should be called for darkness or rain the race would be official so we'll have a completed daytona 500 today and the sun popped out just as we hit halfway yeah it looks the best here right now but he's looked all day long certainly better than the forecast they call that bill france weather here in daytona since bill france senior built this speed plan in 1959 this race has never been rained out it's been raining at 11 30 in the morning and we've still started on time gotten the whole race in it's been rain shortened but never rained out dick bergeron jeff gordon just called into his pit crew and i'll tell you what it's bad news for everybody else out here gordon said i quote i don't know what we can do to make this car any better it's awesome oh boy well doc what's that way that means cha-ching if he's if he's perfect because that car is running flawless you can see he still has to work pretty hard in the corners his hands are still moving pretty hard on the steering wheel it's not a just a ride around in the park they still have to keep that car under control every second breaking away from the field jeff gordon rusty wallace dale earnhardt and bobby lavonny that one car by itself in fifth place trying to run them down just behind these leaders there's jeremy mayfield and ned it looks like he's catching him well he dropped back a little bit and he's trying to get back in the line of the draft he has the best race car we've talked about him several times today he's done a great job so he might be easing back up on them [Music] some people like the opera for sound we expect the leaders in two more laps phil stevens down here with ernie urban this will be a four tire stop for the 36 car also they're going to take one round of wedge out of the right rear there you see they're cranking on the back of the car right side rubber is on left side rubber going on right now they want to get back into the lead draft it's very important these pontiacs are very quick when they're in the lead draft they don't like to trail anybody and that was a beauty of a pit stop that overhead view among the 85 lenses available to director larry cavalena most ever for a single location single day sporting event and that chrome foil number on the roof of irving's car denoting he's one of those five cars that could win the million dollar bonus today and a lap back right now you can see the leader putting him one lap down right at the moment happened to him the first round of pit stops also but it was a little feather on the back straightaway so he did lose a little bit of time this time to what he did before jeff gordon last year the winston cup champion for the second time and the daytona 500 champion for the first time [Music] rusty wallace right behind him we talked a little bit ago about the sun coming out now the difference is going to warm the temperatures and sometimes that makes a difference on the racetrack especially in the handling of the race cars so it'll be interesting to see who it helps and who it hurts ned you're correct on that what you have here you have a racetrack that has a lot of races on it and when the thing gets oil and rubber on it it begins to get a little slick anyhow even without the sun when the sun gets on it it makes all the stuff kind of greasy and uh the cars really change on you now a piece of tape going on the grill of rick maskar they're trying to get a little more downforce on the nose of that car it's running cool enough to permit the use of that tape close off a little grill get a little more downforce get a little more speed real straight foot on the break dave got him in that is crew chief ray evernham former modified racer himself he's crew chief and mentor to jeff gordon the race leader aren't they going to pit yes they are all five to eight hey all 10 12 14 15 with the top drivers coming in right now feeding time at the zoo here they come 65 miles an hour hit road speed ralph shaheen oh the crew is ready to go here in jeff gordon's pit they come around to the right side of the car shane marshall mike trauer going to work with what are known as thunder guns the impact wrecks the spin at over 10 000 rpm to get those flag nuts off as quick as they can right side change another one from the left side sticker tires basically brand new tires going on all four corners to nick bergeron police just had a great stop a little bit over 18 seconds he has beaten earth out of fifth row jeremy mayfield will follow earnhardt down the 18 to go well trouble on pit road dale jarrett spinning off another car spinning trouble jim bodine hit dale jarrett coming down pit road jerry was coming out of his pits bodine headed into his burt warren burton also got tagged and turned around in pistol you see him trying to get straight again and that's going to be a costly pit stop for several drivers those that had the misfortune of being stunned around especially jeff burton in the roush number 99 who had to back away from pit wall once the lane was clear and then pull in pit stops continue dick trickle bill elliott steve park jeff bodine let's show you what happened on pit road as second round of stops under green okay we see the driver there's jeff gordon leaving the pits here comes dale jarrett right here coming out of the pits and back there is he hits see jeff beaudine was coming into the piece he didn't apparently the spotter didn't tell him another car was on the outside so he went right out into jeff budine spun jerry down to the inside and coming into the pits jeff burton coming into his pit stall had to spin out to miss jarrett i'm gonna make a prediction he was looking at the wreck and almost overshot his pits and slammed the brakes on and almost put out that's what jeff burton looked like he did see right there oh he got tagged i seen something hit him there on the left rear corner right front badly crumpled on dale jarrett's 88 you see it from that in-car camera not all of the leaders have pitted joan nemechek moves up on to the front spot after pit stops work on derrick copes chuck ryder owned number 30. there's nemechek number 42 yesterday's winner in the napa auto parts 300 for the bush grand national cars you saw that one live here on cbs nemechek led 106 of the 120 laps yesterday it was all but boring behind him but front row joe became first place joe dale jarrett is coming back on to pit road since we are still under the green flag this second stop will be very very costly mikey has a lot of damage to the right front corner of that car you can see there the right front tire is flat let's show you again what happened on pit road [Music] [Music] he had to move outside jared was saw mark martin starting out so he cut out to move around him and jeff beaudine was coming into the pits and to make that contact and a costly costly situation bill stevens lots of damage on the right front as you can probably see down here they got a hacksaw out and they're whacking away at that sheet metal they're going to pull a big chunk of that metal away from the car they've already changed the right front tire they've got all kinds of 200 mile an hour tape that's going to go on there hopefully to keep that fender from flapping too much a very costly development here terrell shaheen after jeff gordon's pissed off he smelled smoke rubber smoke inside the car they radio back and forth between him and crew chief ray evernham they believe what he smells is from somewhere else but not from inside his car they're not really sure what it is or where it even comes from [Music] jeff gordon continues on joe nemechek leads this race gordon now in second pulling up on kenny irwin jr the rookie and moving past on the inside black flag is out for ricky rudd brickyard 400 champion you're watching from irwin as the leaders go on past gordon wallace earnhardt mayfield wow look at this they're running 180 miles an hour off the corner they're turning about 6 500 down the straightaway with restrictor plate motors you try not to power over 7000 with them because you don't get enough air and fuel in the car to make it really run over 7000 rpm so you just put a gear in there that in-car telemetry provided by first plus financial today pit stops continue but joe nemechek driving for felix sabatti's leads the daytona 500. first time he's led this race in four starts we'll be back with more of the great american race we're just past halfway 115 laps completed four cars in that tight lead draft jeff gordon last year's champion followed by rusty wallace and dale earnhardt who've tried to combine 36 years to win this race and jeremy mayfield the young driver from kentucky who grew up watching daryl waltrip and thinking hoping someday he'd have a chance to run this race and with this team and their new partnership with rusty wallace's penske team mayfield is a serious contender today mike you can see what a gap you have there between the first four and bobby levine here running right by himself he needs some help mike skinner looks like he is now joining up they may could run them down but that's a big deficit to try to run down bobby labonte the pole sitter skinner last year's pole sitter a little further back mark martin in seventh place down on the inside with ken schroeder the eighth place car schrader driving hurt as they follow rookie kenny irwin irwin is one lap down and there's mark motioning to the cars behind him he's wanting to stay in line right now and try to catch that lead bunch they know right now they're dead in the water if they don't do something so they have to try to stay in line and run that front group back down because they are really a good ways back that group is three seconds behind the lead pack of cars there's what just three seconds looks like here at daytona from here to eternity wow not a great deal of uh you don't get much help from the draft of those cars up right there mark barton moves to the inside as irwin one lap behind pulls over lets the lead lap cars through dick bergeron rick cope who had been a contender early is on pit road the problem a right front defender they've had contact and that fender is flapping in the breeze they're trying to put tape on it race it so it'll stay there hope now backing up as they try to pry the fender away from the tire this is oh so costly they did think they had a shot at the daytona 500 not anymore ralph remember we took a look at the right front tire at jeff gordon's car after the first pit stop and the tire temperature went increased across the tire this time it's even all the way across that's an indicator that that push that he had in the front of the car is now gone because he's running up front in clean air jeff gordon your leader rusty wallace dale earnhardt jeremy mayfield and you're with dale earnhardt out of turn number four and down the front straightaway let's have a look back at last year's third place finisher who started in the last row and came up to third ricky craven the newberg main driver today running on the lead lap in 19th position right behind mike wallace telemetry on board ricky craven's car you can see 180 miles an hour going down in the corner there 6 500 rpm that's john andretti just in front of him there there nose to tail coming down towards the drive along the front straightaway the car down on the track apron was ricky rudd headed for the pits and buddy you talked about the lower rpms with these restrictor plate engines when they are unrestricted as they'll be next week at rockingham north carolina they turn those things about 8 500 sometimes to 9 000 rpms the daytona 500 is annually a sellout but there are still seats available at rockingham north carolina on the one mile speedway for next sunday's second race in the winston cup tour [Music] bill elliot leading a pack of cars [Music] john andretti driving for richard petty this season with craven and the number four of bobby hamilton who was petty's driver last season musical chairs rather common in the off-season in nascar racing bill elliott's picked up uh you don't think he went through the drive-through on one of those no no no no no no don't go there now the leaders are able to get away from that second pack ned because they have picked up the draft of these cars about to be left here yesterday in the 300 some cars broke away and they didn't pull too far away from the pack behind them until they started lapping cars and then when they picked up that draft like these cars have done right here they really picked their speed up look at earnhardt he was trying to go high on the outside but i think he got boxed in there he was trying to go where jeff gordon didn't as they came to those lap cars what he's trying to do is use these slow cars as the pick so he can make a move towards the lead he's got the lead gordon though is not going to be denied gordon has rusty wallace earnhardt had jeremy mayfield side by side they come down to complete the 120 second lap gordon at the strike but earnhardt has rusty wallace with him gordon's out in the draft right now they should go right on by him they lead rusty wallace and jeremy later they go right on by him down into turn one [Music] [Applause] jeff gordon hanging tough on the inside trying to get back up in line and you said they were picking friends there two forwards and two chevrolets in the lead draft and up front two drivers who have tried a combined total of 36 daytona 500s to find the way to victory lane dale earnhardt and rusty wallace jeremy mayfield now third and jeff gordon who has led much of this race back to fourth there that blue car is joan nemechek just ahead of the leaders nemechek was leading made a late pit stop came back out on the racetrack and now he's at the tail end of the lead lap there's an evil champion pretty quickly mike now that they've caught him as we talked about those cars a moment ago once they get the sniff of that crowd [Music] they really pick up [Music] in jeff gordon's pit ralph shaheen mike apparently uh pushed developing in the 24 card now with jeff gordon they'll keep an eye on it and see if they can't get it fixed and next time they're going to have to stay out as long as they can to keep him in the lead patch you can see jeff gordon right on the white line there he seems to be i got a straight entire down low on the back bridge and you've got ward burton slow in the back straight away that guy's throwing it all over he's going into three right now spotters and crew chiefs talking with their drivers and there is ward burton who has cut down a tire and will make it back around to pit road you could hear jeff telling ray everyone have their stuff all over the racetrack back here and caution is out for the first time today the yellow flag waves over the daytona 500 125 laps of green flag racing now we're under caution cbs sports coverage of the daytona 500 continues after this message and a word from your local station we are under caution for tire debris from ward burton and in the run on to pit road rusty wallace got out first and mark martin's jack roush ford is being pushed backwards and behind the wall dick bergeron well i'm not sure what it is yet mike but we're going to tell you real soon apparently it's a drive check we've just picked up on the radio we're on our way there we'll bring you the report in a moment dale jarrett's crew is working hard on that right front fender as rusty wallace's crew led by robin pemberton led the race off pit road we'll be right back [Music] 127 laps 317 and a half miles have been run seven different leaders lead changes 10 times and that average speed is still over the baker record of 1980. two cars have retired from the event kevin lepage was the first out power failure there and now mark martin behind the wall with the rear end gone on that car rusty wallace at the moment running in front since 1991 four wrecks here at daytona this is not done well take a look at this in 1993 back straight away 190 miles per hour and he walked away but his luck in this 500 has not been good this is his 16th attempt to win the 500. engine failures crashes in this race some have considered that he he may be just a little temperamental on that on that throttle with all the things that have happened to him one of the guys that helped him to cure that was buddy baker let's go to dick burger mark martin's view of the daytona 500 has just changed he had been watching it on the racetrack now he's looking through his windshield at the cars as they go by what happened to this thing well we broke a gear trying to get out of the pits there just a bad luck thing i mean you know nothing we did it just uh happens once every 10 years or something like that man we had a good run going uh you know uh i i thought we were giving valvoline cummins and bugles bosch ford eagle one all these guys uh something to cheer for uh i don't know if we had a shot to win but we had a top five car and the guys everybody pulled together and worked real hard to put this thing together and uh this is just a real disappointing way to to have it uh turn out and mark martin is yet another of those veterans who has never won the daytona 500 he'll have to wait till next year mike finished third here in 1995. he's been trying for a decade and a half to win this race getting set for the restart rusty wallace won the race off pit road dale earnhardt jeff gordon let's see how the rookies six of them in this race are faring today jerry nadeau there he is jerry nedu number 13 from danbury connecticut is 22nd kenny irwin 25th steve park 29th andy hillenberg 32nd billy standridge 39th and in the garage area kevin lepage among the rookies in this race so nedu leading what is expected to be one of the finest winston cup rookie crops in many a year there are some great drivers good talent in the rookie chase this year ralph well there's a problem with the front air dam on jeff gordon's car and that's why he has the big push it has been dented in they have changed tires on this car but there is not a whole lot they can do to compensate for that jeff is going to be dealing with a push for the rest of the day aerodynamics are so critical a component of speed here at daytona green flag first time a ford has led today rusty wallace [Music] earnhardt behind him and gordon nestled up against earnhardt's bumper rusty wallace is in a bad spot right now you see ollie what they're talking about right on that corner right there is bent back just a little bit on jeff gordon's car that's what they're talking about being bent in it don't look like much but at 200 miles an hour that's a lot of lift on the front of the car and look at the distance earnhardt has pulled on gordon in a lap three car long pit stops during that caution for greg sachs with the hood up jeff burton ward burton and dale jarrett repairing damage to their cars body damage rusty wallace is in a spot right now he has three good chevrolets right on his back bumper and his uh teammate his own back in the back there you can see that earnhardt's partner right there the 31 of mike skinner going with him on the high side there jeff gordon starting to buy four wide in the back straight away once again oh this could get injured [Applause] that's what it's all about right there when you go down the back straightaway you bump into them you see into the lead they go that was not an attempt to buck earnhardt out of the way that's his teammate mike skinner trying to shove him forward absolutely that's what you do it's about 200 rpms every time you touch him bill stevens interesting to see that maneuver in the race yesterday during happy hour we watched that same sequence skinner coming up on earnhardt tapping him on the back it may have been by design stay wide in turn two dick bergeron well as we watch the leaders bike they're gonna have to make one more pit stop before this thing is all in and over with there's going to be a lot more racing to come before that 500 is settled you know how a pack of wild animals can take advantage of one that's wounded that's what they've done to jeff gordon they've moved him back in the back that's all they have to do is just think he's wounded a little bit they're really on him now gordon inside jeremy mayfield number 12 and up against jimmy spencer the man they called mr excitement in the modified ranks in the northeast number 23. keep your eye on that green car bobby lavonny been fast all day high siding around a lot of this traffic right now and moving up towards the front and these trainers back up there in fifth place two of the five drivers that have the chance for the million dollar bonus bernie irvin and kenny schroeder are up in the top five urban 36 schrader 33 there's schrader up on the outside bobby lobotti of the 18 car the other green car following along as gordon moves back up down on the inside well he's got jimmy spencer just in front of him he seems to be able to draft if he can stay in a tight draft but if he goes out by himself he's in trouble jeff gordon right up against the back bumper of la body as they follow ernie irvin former winner of the 500 down to turn one see kenny schrader there in the 33 moving three wide as they head into turn one there ken schroeder started that back up car at the tail end of the field qualified 31st driving with a cracked sternum from a hard crash into the turn one wall in thursday's qualifying race a trader said no bones are going to keep me from a shot at two million dollars total to win today boy i understand that that's a career for a lot of people he's going on right now camera a little work over there you can see how much air pressure is off this car then actually moves the camera then two by two behind the three leaders into turn one at 190 miles an hour driving up on a banking that's probably steeper than the roof on your house richard childers cars first and second right now that's a hard thing to overcome when you have a teammate up under you like that somebody has to really get with somebody and change the groove to get by you won't you won't see these guys make a mistake and give that up bill stevens just spoke to andy petry the crew chief for kenny schroeder asked him how's kenny feeling in the car he says the flak jacket was a stroke of genius helping to dampen some of the vibrations that would come up and ordinarily caused him some discomfort he said he's feeling great i said does a million dollars have to do something with it he said yep schroeder has morgan shepard standing by and relief shepard rideless for the daytona 500 hopes to put something together for the rest of the season just a second ago rusty wallace was giving everybody chase around the racetrack he's staying on the bottom side of the racetrack and the groove moved up just a little bit he's dropping back as we speak 65 laps to go ken squire heroics are such a part of the daytona 500 and they always have been but this ride by schrader should not be discounted imagine fracturing your sternum three days ago in 185 mile an hour crash he qualified 31st he had to go to his second car started 43rd he's driven this thing right up into the top five once again this is truly a heroic performance and that car rides like a butt board the way they have these chevrolets designed to run this track this year this year you feel every bump you feel every crevice on the track he was telling me he was going to get a new dentist because he had so many feelings he'd have to replace after 500 miles imagine how he must feel right now but there's no pain for schrader it's like earnhardt coming back after that terrible crash at talladega and sitting on the pole in sears point california these people are special gotta wonder what two million dollars feels like well you can ask ernie ervin he's one of them is trying right now and he's moving up beside the team car dale earnhardt mike skinner you can see he has a good draft on the bottom side of the racetrack he's going to take it away from skinner and this is a whole new ball game ernie urban told me last night no one driver could win this race by himself you had to have help and the draft we'll be right back today tony after this mike skinner had vaulted to the lead ken schrader came up with him dale earnhardt dropped to the low groove behind skinner and as they went into turn number three earnhardt went under his teammates schroeder went up high around him skinner got kicked back to third earnhardt's back in the lead schroeder's second you know what that's called one winner for the daytona 500. you have to go when you have the chance that's ernie urban down on the inside trying to get something going rusty wallace working with him after this that caution the cars were all bunched up together that's where they're still running some of these cars are left down they're still 17 18 cars on the lead lap earnhardt and schroeder how many times have they run side by side together i hate to say this but when you get them bunched up like this anything can happen earnhardt to the inside wants the lead back and here comes ernie irvin with him ernie irvin that's a brand new ride for him but it is working like ernie irving's cars always do have something to do with the driver of the first nine drivers right now irvin is the only one to taste victory in the daytona 500. but he and kenny schrader are both as you mentioned earlier eligible for that million dollar bonus they're right up there fighting for it and that would mean a total payday of two million dollars counting manufacturers contingency television money and then rj reynolds bonus and for the mark martin fans he is back on the racetrack now they they did get his car repaired but he has many laps down like what happened to that single file draft of lead cars we had a while ago well all you have to do is look at the laps left in this race everybody now they're pulling the plugs on these things they know they have to go dick bergeron well richard childress is watching our television broadcast and he's watching his two cars the 3 and 31 jockey back and forth what do you make of this richard well you know he was sitting there and pushing they had a run he had to go uh i just told him mike you know i was telling him just try to sit there and they had a run so we had to go got him five points now he's back there hopefully we just settle in and hopefully have them both there at the end where they can help each other who's supposed to win this thing the 31 skinner or the three earned heart well you know a car owner is kind of like two kids who do you want to give a piece of candy to but uh you know my heart's got to be with dale earnhardt but we all owe it to lowe's and everybody would like skinner if he's got a chance to win he's got to try to win there's a diplomatic answer for you mike it certainly is from the owner of a two-car team half-black trivia question who has started the most daytona 500s before winning the great race [Music] buddy baker 18. i was about to say daryl waltrip but daryl went for he won in his 17th year i believe what he wanted in his 18th start and look here three wide out on in the head this is not trivia here this is the real thing three wide at 200 miles an hour through the try oval and that is a turn there it is a turn and dick trickles in the middle they're still three wide you're with john andretti the pepsi 400 winner here in july a race that will show for the first time ever at night this july 4th here on cbs well i can't wait to see 43 cars under the lights here at daytona i got to see history when earnhardt made a few laps the other night it was absolutely beautiful the car looked like a diamond out there the people cheered the whole 20 laps that he run and they expect a packed house here in daytona for the first ever pepsi 400 run at night and you'll see it live in prime time here on cbs earnhardt the leader irvin in second rusty wallace in third 56 laps to go round a tip of the hat to the fab shop guys on the number two of rusty wallace they work day after day they only got two days off at the end of the season christmas day and thanksgiving day crew chief robin pemberton he gets three weeks off a year he's only had five days off in all of 1997. they built over seven taurus chassis leading up to the daytona 500 and that great bodywork has gotten rusty into the thick of this year's daytona 500. now that inside lane is moving forward ralph and the reason is mark martin the lap car up ahead earnhardt could sniff out a draft off that white and blue machine of martin i'm watching all these guys right now outside lines fast one lap inside land lane is fast one time the biggest thing right now you don't only have earnhardt with a lot of help other people are getting great toes around the racetrack back down to turn one 146 laps complete bill i just spoke to ryan pemberton the crew chief for early irving i said are you starting to make some deals on who's going to run with you for the finish he says no it's happening too fast 135 miles to go dale earnhardt jimmy spencer on the inside of mike skinner number 23 spencer number nine like speed number 90. dick trickle and mark martin one lap down trying to stay away and out of the way of the contenders to win this round that's exactly what he's doing a true champion type driver to never create a problem as close to the end of the most important race these guys run still got over 50 laps down there at the start finish line that's dale earnhardt's team communicating with their driver 53 laps to run from this point in the race on dale earnhardt's lead this lap lap 148 and every other lap in the rest of this race one year or another except lap 200. that's larry mcreynolds in the upper right learn hearts running super super well we're just behind him isn't it on the move right now jeremy mayfield single file the lead pack comes down to the start finish line earnhardt irvin right behind there's ernie irving's pontiac he moved out of robert yates ford at the end of last season that's now driven by rookie kenny irwin jr jeremy mayfield is third rusty wallace fourth teammates ken schroeder fifth jeff gordon in sixth mike skinner jimmy spencer bobby labonte john andretti the top ten we'll be right back 49 laps to go in the daytona 500. dale earnhardt's been coming here for 20 years trying to win this race ken schrader for almost that long that's schroeder in number 33 thursday in the 125 mile qualifying race schrader got bumped from behind by the yellow car of david green turned to the apron and then whammed into the turn one wall taking johnny benson with him schroeder's impact speed about 180 miles per hour the force jolted him forward in the shoulder harnesses cracked his sternum he's wearing a flak jacket today but he said nothing would keep him from a shot at two million dollars if he could get in that car and he has [Music] coming up next men's ice hockey and figure skating from the olympic winter games you know we got a feeling frederick's going backwards he's starting to push in the center part of the corner and jordan's coming forward jeff gordon is on the inside of kenny schroeder's 33 and schroeder may drop to the tail of his lead draft as mike skinner goes past as well dale earnhardt leading ernie irvin 48 laps to go one pit stop will remain these cars get about five miles per gallon and hold 22 gallons of fuel mike i think jeff gordon changed his driving style just a little bit that car seems to be working on the bottom of the racetrack again he was pushing out a little bit getting into turn one not too long ago looks to be working quite well he's moving back up on the lead cars now these are the two leaders you're just perched on the back bumper of dale earnhardt chevrolet looking back there at ernie irvin jeremy mayfield youngster from kentucky his teammate rusty wallace and jeff gordon he was thinking about making a move look at mike skinner he's looking down on the outside of jake i don't believe he's going to be able to pull that one off yet [Applause] single file the first seven cars right in the middle of that group jeremy mayfield fifth start in this race [Music] looking for his first top five finish still a lot of jostling back in the pack and a lot of drivers that won't give up on their chance to win the 500 but they have to catch this pack to do it yeah it looks like that second group they look like they're closing in on the leaders just a little bit jimmy spencer's pulling that second group right on up through there john andretti is right with him you can see there's about a 15 goal left difference but they are coming like a storm right now right now it's like we've run far enough and got far enough to go and about that rape i don't know what mcreynolds is saying they may get four tires on this last pit stop when he says andy i don't know it means he hasn't talked to andy petry who owns ken schrader's car now not only can we listen in on these teams a lot of fans in the stands have scanners they can listen to all of that team communication don't know of any other sport where you can do that as the event unfolds find out all the strategy first hand but you can do it in nascar racing there's buddy baker's record for the race 177.6 and they're running almost right on that record pace today see the tremendous uh travel in the front of ernie irvine's car as he comes through the corner there that front part of that car is three and a half inches from the ground it's dragging going through the corner that's how much the cars are moving in the middle part of the corner the pontiacs are because of the rules are able to run a little bit lower balance than the fords and the chevrolets dick bobby labonte currently running ninth has started this race on the pole but he has not really contended for much of the day they've had some chassis problems but crew chief jimmy makar says what they are really doing is kind of hanging around in the back waiting for the end he says the car will be strong enough after this next pit stop to contend for the win contending for the win right now jeremy mayfield from owensboro kentucky that number 12 moves up to second place team cars working together jeremy mayfield getting a great tow you see right now rusty wallace's teammate right behind him they just moved up there went right by ernie irvin took over second third place those two cars are even painted alike only the decals are different body trying to bring that group back up through [Music] there's mayfield number 12 wallace number two [Music] and gordon now has moved up to fourth place mayfield pulling in on earnhardt the race leader fifth appearance in this race drove for the sadler brothers drove twice here for kale yarborough got a top 20 finish out of it and last year for this team mayfield finished sixth in this race continuing to battle further back joe nemechek with the four of bobby hamilton new driver for larry mcclure this year that yellow car 99 jeff burton accident damage and number 16 ted musgrave the blue and yellow car just ahead of his teammate mark martin and mike wallace in that white and yellow 73 159 laps complete this time by dale earnhardt leads it cbs sports coverage will continue after this message and a word from your local station larry mcreynolds and ray everham on the left mcreynolds crew chief for earnhardt mcreynolds won this race with davey allison ray evernham won it last year with jeff gordon talking race strategy and mainly when to make the final pit stop and what to do on that final pit stop do you just put fuel in do you take two tires do you take four tires i wouldn't be surprised to see a splash and go that's close jeff burton has come back to pit road word from the scanner is they may have lost an engine on burton's number 99 a lot of smoke from under the hood and also being pushed back towards the garage as the part number one of rookie driver steve park he's going to be out of i better explain what a splash and go is that's about two gallons of fuel and just going right back on the racetrack as fast as you can ralph well larry mcreynolds told ray evernham he would be back in about lap 170 which is just about seven laps from now to figure out exactly what they're gonna do we have also seen members of kenny schrader's team down here as well nick yeah we've also had robin pemberton down here he is in right now earnhardt have you guys cut a deal there are no deals we're just discussing something right how many tires are you going to take when you pit in when will you pit uh we don't know what we're gonna do yet we're we're discussing things that's koi well robin pemberton is the crew chief for the third place car of rusty wallace that was kevin hamlin on the left mike skinner's crew chief talking with the car that it's also owned by richard childress and engineered by larry mcreynolds i think there's as much hard running up and down pit road as there is out on the racetrack right now well the drama continues to be it does that because just behind these league cars that we're looking at right now bobby levine jimmy spencer and a few other cars are moving in on this lead draft it may be a 15 car shootout once they make her pit stops but they're really catching their lead group rick mast running here for car owner butch mock and he has presently posted 29th mast is three laps down he didn't make the race last year and he said that took 10 years off his life he says i know when i die of natural causes if it hadn't been for missing that race i'd have lived another 10 years well it is tough to miss the race there's no doubt about it he was so proud to be able to get in this race this year had to race his way into it on thursday pole sitter for the first brickyard 400. dale earnhardt has won 30 races at daytona counting the international race of champions seven wins in the saturday 300 grand national race never on sunday for the daytona 500. i tell you with the luck that dale earnhardt had here in daytona for the 500 a creek in the back of that car would sound like a cowbell to him i guarantee you he's sitting there wondering is something else going to happen to me dick bergeron well subject to change with larry mcreynolds radio to dale earnhardt on lap 165 we're coming in in 15 laps they can go almost all the way to the end that's 200 laps on the fuel that they've got but at least right now the strategy is come in before then last year earnhardt in contention to win flipped over with 11 laps to go and there's a forward crew chief and a chevy crew chief having a conversation on the left is robin pemberton her chief peresti wallace now neither one of them neither one of their drivers have won this race in years of trying two years ago earnhardt started on the pole finished a close second three years ago settled for second four years ago lost the lead draft five years ago lost it in the final lap crashed six years ago seven years ago limp tom as the race ended under caution and i could go on and on through 19 years of trying [Music] mike i was just looking over turn one the black skies are over there i'm sure these drivers are starting to look at it and say man this thing might end before the end of the race because it is getting dark over there everybody has to be aware of the bad weather and if they get a report that there are showers in that area then that's going to make a difference in these pit stops they'll go as long as they possibly can maybe some of them even in 1980 when buddy baker won this race earnhardt was running with baker in the final laps when the pit crew left one lug nut off during the final stop and he had to come back to pit road dropping a lap off the pace earnhardt has lost this race every which way you can and usually in the closing laps jeff gordon aiming to be the spoiler in earnhardt's party or wallace's celebration the 1997 champion sits in fourth place behind earnhardt jeremy mayfield and rusty wallace 31 laps to go next time by working 172 laps 430 miles complete the story is earnhardt striving struggling to finally win this 500. earlier this week he told the press everyone saw the look in john elway's eyes looking mine he's out in front but there are two forks deployed directly behind him and before this is over you can be sure they're going to be on the attack mayfield and wallace working together let's go back to the call and mike joy can 28 laps to go eight times in 19 years dale earnhardt has been in this position at this juncture of the race in the lead four times with the trouble of the back stretch one car two cars go sliding down the back straight away john andretti robert presley was the other car and andretti swerves around as they get down to the grass and we are under caution so that takes all that pit strategy away because they'll be able to make their pit stops under caution all that wheeling and dealing new deal chilly day hot racing on the track it's only the second caution of the afternoon and it comes after 173 laps are completed beginning lap 174 there are 15 cars on the lead lap make that 16. earnhardt jeremy mayfield rusty wallace jeff gordon and ernie irvin mike skinner bobby labonte ken schrader jimmy spencer and ricky craven the top ten then kyle petty michael waltrip bill elliot terry labonte chad little bobby hamilton and lake speed 17 cars on the lead lap when they form up for the restart but first pit stops here's what happened out of turn two you can see that the 43 car of andretti came up awfully fast on the 77 car of robert presley they got together and spin down to the inside of the racetrack everybody else goes by let's slow it down and look again andretti was on the lead lap just got into the left right corner presley and both of them spin to the inside of the racetrack and out of harm's way inside john andretti's car for this look if you want to see what an arrow push look like watch him come up right here quickly gets to those gears and gets it on out of there he has made a pit stop yeah that makes me pretty proud of my sunday job up here i'm not in that windshield behind the pit road will be the center of action as dale earnhardt leads jeremy mayfield rusty wallace jeff gordon and every one of those 17 cars on the lead lap dick bergeron earnhardt coming down pit road for what will be his final pit stop if all goes well the plan take two tires that's what rusty wallace plan is as well let's go to bill rusty wallace is in robin pemberton said to his gas guys get one can in and don't worry about it let him get out of here right side tires only he's away with lithium earnhardt has the quick pit stop it'll be earnhardt leading the charge off pit roy and his teammate mike skinner gets out second that could be of a conversation we had yesterday where to win the daytona 500 you have to have a friend and earnhardt has his teammate right behind him you got to remember something else so his teammate wants to win the daytona 500 two teammates that's two teams right there the first four position but it's gonna be good get a good hold 25 laps to go next time by earnhardt made a great pit stop but you've got to hand it to those guys in the 31 they were back in fifth place when they came in now they're in second place they really made a great pit stop now even leaving the pits they're subject to that 65 mile an hour speed limit so it's who gets their job done first and who gets up out and into the lane bill robin pemberton very unhappy with that pit stop i asked him not enough fuel in the car he said no too much he thinks they took too much time they wanted to get out before earnhardt they came out in fourth place and that track position is so important you know they they actually time how long it takes to dump a gallon of fuel in these cars so he knows when it's too long dark clouds on the western horizon the daytona 500 has 25 laps left to run [Music] field is getting set on a restart and let's rejoin mike joy don hawk with dale earnhardt more prayer earnhardt's pit stop a key pit stop to maintaining that lead track position watch that black car in the middle of the screen jump out ahead of those two white fords and mike skinner the blue and yellow car right with him let's give a call to kevin hamlin and that mike skinner crew michael lingerfelt ron otto kevin gabbard taco landon brian engelhart tripp bruce they got mike skinner way up the leaderboard into second place he was fifth when he came in came out in second place one loser on this pit stop pike was ernie irvin who was running in fifth place he is now back in the 11th position and michael waltrip also a big loser he he got out of the pits good in the sixth place but he had to come back in for because he ran over an air hose now he is 18th there are 18 cars on the lead left and that we need to add to the list we gave earlier john andretti and michael waltrip they are on the lead lap that makes 18 cars dale earnhardt in front 24 laps to go buddy how do you win this race if you're not in dale earnhardt's position well the first thing you have to do as you can tell they're teaming up right now there's a lot of these guys that know that they have to draft right now you wait to about five laps to go really make a run but hey if that door opens up right now those team cars will go right by earnhardt and try to put him back there and worry about him getting back to the front both those two lead chevy's using the new general motors sb2 small block engine and net to ford tauruses right behind them answering a question we had at the top of the day the tauruses can run yes they can they certainly can run in the draft they haven't led that much today but they certainly can run in the draft and if two of them get hooked up together against those two chevrolets it's going to be interesting however i think it's going to be very hard to pass dale earnhardt and to mike skinner ken squire dale earnhardt has said this week it's a game of chance in terms of who's working with you and how you get where you want to be he's where he wants to be now for sure but he made mike skinner right behind going underground right behind skinner is shoving earnhardt toward turn one almost got his car loose mike he was so much up under him and actually pushed lead lap cars in the outside lane cars one or more laps down including number 40 marlin down on the inside rusty wallace got a terrible start there he's not up to his teammate where he should be but jeff gordon's right on his back buffer they ought to be able to pull up that's the last call because they pull right up into the draft there 23 lap gang fighting jeremy mayfield's gang has not yet shown up he's the only board in the front of that pack he's had a good car all day he's drafted well has driven it well now rusty wallace is back there with two chevys and two forwards and three of rest behind them jimmy spencer in the middle don't count out that green car there bobby labonte right now he's one of the guys that can make two million dollars if he wins today and here's a challenge going down into turn one the ford's move on the inside of skinner they take away ernest drafting mike skinner kicked up high clotheslined out of the draft by himself here they come underneath him you can see the skinner's fighting back on the outside bobby right by himself that's not a good place to be did he get to third did he get the third where to get to sound like ray everham talking to jeff gordon he got to fourth is where he got to and bobby labonte is still on the side with mike skinner back there that's not good well the first four broke away just still got 22 laps remember that air damn that is ray evernote telling jeff gordon that air dam is bent up stay in line as long as you possibly can and take advantage of the draft off the car ahead of you jerry nader number 13 in the middle of the pack he's the highest rookie in the race right now one lap down in 22nd spot great debut for the road racer from connecticut [Music] mark martin's wounded car way down to the inside getting out of the way he knows he's laps down he's just letting these guys go after it buddy how tense is it to be this late in a race in the middle of a pack like this well you see bobby labonte in the green car there he has jimmy spencer and all the tension is unbelievable because you're doing everything you possibly can inside outside trying to get somebody to go with you coming up on mike skinner he's trying to make a move there you see him go inside you got to cut off right back to the outside they're not waiting anymore they're making their moves out of turn two earnhardt leads two forwards and a chevrolet jeff gordon the defending champion in fourth seven times at this point in the race with 20 laps to go earnhardt has been the leader he still has yet to find the key to the gate that opens to victory lane in the daytona 500 and it's been 59 winston cup races since earnhardt has had a victory on nascar senior circuit three of rest further back rookie kenny irwin in between jeff beaudine and ricky craven [Music] ned those two forwards are linked up behind dale bernard now each time they've gone to turn one there's rusty wallace he started inside he started outside but even with jeremy mayfield right behind him he cannot yet get alongside earnhardt so far maybe it's a little bit earlier that they might would like to make those moves they sort of test them out but they also got to look in their rearview mirror right behind rusty wallace as jeff gordon and they know that he's going to stay a player in this thing bobby labonte has caught back up to them as well as buddy said he has a fast pontiac so it's going to be one kind of a shoot out here just behind the green car there that red and white car that's jimmy spencer past winner here he'll let it all hang out too when time comes in pre-season testing when the forts came down here to run buddy baker came down here as a consultant with jeremy mayfield and with rusty wallace you went out and ran with rusty pointed out a couple of things he might try want to share one with us let's watch this race i'll tell you what they do a great job rusty knows how to drive i would just down here but it helps me a lot in the booth at least i do know what these cars are doing right now you can see jeremy look on the inside his teammate just about put a move on him there if he makes the wrong move rusty's going to go because he wants to win the daytona 500 as much as jeremy mayfield does erner looking in the mirror going what do i do if they come on the outside inside not since jerry cook has there been a mirror driver in this business of the caliber of earnhardt that's right and he knows that i mean all he can do here's gordon making a move terry i mean coming with them contact there between gordon and the two cars of uh rusty wallace and now bobby labonte gets a ride up on the outside of jeff gordon so he'll go around if he's going to go with him and that split up that lead draft here's michael walker down at 21 coming back we said that he dropped all the way to 18th he's all the way up to ninth and he'll go closer they go three wide trying to gain track position at gordon's expense and that leaves these three to settle it and dale earnhardt has to be grinning boys keep him two by two back here and it's a three-car shootout instead of 15 cars going forward on the last flap yeah but i believe bobby labonte is going to be back up there before this thing's over oh that's strong he's coming there he is he's right back there now dale earnhardt all he can do is just hold that thing wide open keep it down to the low side of the racetrack where he's running well all day long and just hope for the best 40 miles left to race dick bergeron larry mcraels how nerve-wracking is this well you know it's just it's all out of our hands now you know it's uh i feel like we've got the best driver that's ever been at daytona leading this pack right now but you got team cars behind him and uh darren i wish they'd shorten this race today we just have to see what happens okay thanks good luck well we look over there and that dark cloud doesn't look quite as dark right now down into turn one as they still continue to run three wide back in the pack it's nowhere near as dark as that dark form that looms in front of those two white and blue forwards dale earnhardt but as richard childress reminded larry mcreynolds at this point in the race last year when larry said is it looking good childress just looked at him with a stern face and said we've been here before mike is still 15 laps and anything can happen look back here four wide down the back straightaway all trying to catch these three we'll be lucky if we don't have a wreck before this thing's over with all those cars running that close together back there jocking four position here they are three wide again middle of the pack the green car chad little down low ernie irving trying to come back up with the leaders and outside ricky craven in 12th place you're with craven that's jerry nadew just ahead bill elliott down on the inside oh chad little comes up almost into craving that's exactly what ned was talking about rooting and gouging now they're moving up on each other tire marks are the thing of the day right now [Music] chad little gets free of that pack and way down to the bottom goes irving irvin scratching and clawing his way back to the front he's racing for two million dollars 14 laps to go can we hold our breath that long can they if i was driving earnhardt's car i would hope these guys are smart enough just to stay behind me until the real time comes if you made a move right now you might go from second to 15th get back there where they're running three wide and have no chance to win now is not the time to make a move up front of course earnhardt he's making the moves that he has to make and that's his hold of the pedal to the middle as they say wide open all the way around this racetrack and hope that on the last lap or whenever they decide to make their move that those two fords get side by side back there or side to side with another car and they'll free him up 12 to go next time by a lot of checking up in the middle of that huge pack as these seven cars have gone single file earnhardt mayfield rusty wallace bobby labonte jeff gordon mike skinner and jimmy spencer yep we have a group now that really know how to run this racetrack the back guard there jimmy smither one here on a breathtaking move look at this three wide back in the pack kyle petty down low john andretti in the middle and he squeezes up in front of i think that was ted musgrave oh yes it was pushed there too well for wisconsin and they run hard with their bumpers up there back to the lead seven cars in a row 11 and one half laps 27 miles left to run dale earnhardt has won his qualifying race the last umpteen years in a row here every one of the 1990s nine years he's won the qualifier but in between last year's qualifying race win and thursday's win he's been shut out of victory lane you know jeremy mayfield sitting there a second does not have quite as much time on the major speedways as the guy in front of him the guy behind him but right now he has a great race car i hope he knows so when you pull out if you're right up under the car in front of you you don't have momentum you need to lag back and let that teammate help you get a run up the back straight away so you make the move on the car in front of you all right professor baker the buck baker racing school you taught jeremy mayfield during winter testing does he have the killer instinct to beat these two and win this race let me tell you something look at all that bunch right there every one of them a winner you're a track champion before you ever get in the western cup every one of these guys are talented race car drivers and i won't take any credit he got here on his own dick richard childress is watching the television his driver is ahead but they're all ganged up behind you how does dale earnhardt prevent these guys from passing him that's going to be tough you know two cars can just go you know mike got shuffled out i was hoping mike could sit there with him but those two cars got to run on mike and just hung him out and his car's a little loose too so he's doing a good job and you know dale earnhardt he's been here many times he knows what he's got to do he does indeed mike joy and those six cars in the lead pack may be about to become 12. just watching jeff gordon he had dropped back and gotten himself back in that group back there now he's running the front loop group back down there has some good drafting partners with him 10 laps to go the driver leading with 10 laps to go has won 22 times in the 39 runnings of the 500 but four times one of the drivers of the 17 that have not have been dale earnhardt 1989 1990 1991 and 93. earnhardt has been right here with 10 laps to go bill i'm with paul andrews crew chief for jeremy mayfield kids doing a great job but what happens next i don't know we've got about eight more times to go around here we'll find out you know the mobile one car's been real good the whole the whole uh week down here we feel like we're in pretty good shape we feel like we've got a real good car we know there's a whole lot of cars right behind us and one wrong move we could right in the back but uh you know we're really excited to be here in the position we're in and we're going to go for the wind here a little bit if jeremy goes will rusty go with him well of course that's what teammates are for indeed paul andrews knows about winning he won the winston cup championship with the late alan kilwicki behind the wheel they're still running average laps of almost 188 miles an hour and they're getting close to that 500 mile mark eight laps to go 20 miles buddy guys it hadn't been long we had four cars in a breakaway draft you have many cars now in contention you see rusty pushing up a little bit bobby lobani looking on the inside as they head down the back straight away labonte has jeff gordon with him mike skinner to the inside rusty wallace goes down like kale yarborough and donnie allison did on the last lap at 79. and here is bobby labonte on the outside the green car jeremy mayfield fighting back on the inside there jeff gordon just up under him as they come down towards the front straight away it's a dog fight is these guys jimmy spencer makes contact there they're not gonna wait for one to go seven laps to go here comes mayfield right up against the bumper of earnhardt again right up under but here comes gordon now where did he come from gordon fighting on the outside if he gets up under look at this dog fight off turn two as they go down this long back straight away wallace on the inside labonte way up on the outside and somebody got shot out of the middle like a hot dog flying out of the bun here comes the teammates on the inside trying to drive back jeff gordon going into turn two give it to mayfield they have got separated there for just a moment now as they come off the turn four mayfield is right back there again sticking his nose of his forward right up under dale earnhardt chevrolet six to go baby remember [Applause] martin on the outside buddy can he get there we have a situation here we have two groups that are running very well on the high side of the racetrack i don't think there is such a thing as a great line around the racetrack right now wow the teams and the manufacturers are split up it's chevy ford chevy ford and nobody has a teammate next to them let's see what earnhardt's doing right now right on the white line around the bottom of the racetrack here that groove you see from the white uphill that's the racetrack the rest of the flat part of the racetrack right out against the wall you can see him heading into the dog leg here he'll go right down to the bottom he's protecting that low line now ray evernham tells his driver jeff gordon five laps to go 16 cars are in contention to win the daytona 500. remember 1979 when going into turn three kale yarbrough and donny allison crashed richard petty was in turn one at the time and let daryl waltrip and aj foyt to the checkered flag you don't need to be on the front of this train to win but it sure helps lady we feel just like you do up here in the broadcasting booth now that neither one of us are sitting down i just got out of my chair as a matter of fact off turn four where david pearson and richard petty crashed on the last lap of the 500 in 1976 pearson limping across with the victory to get themselves in position they know that they've been back there and field for sixth place they're not in position to win the daytona 500. bobby labonte is in a bad position there right now running side by side with another car ernie irvin has worked his way back into contention right now he's under bobby labonte that's the group running side by side back here that's not a good thing with this few elapsed to go though gonna be three laps to go down to the inside comes one of those fords they're three abreast once again wow rusty made to pass on jeff gordon down the back straightaway now the car in front of him is a teammate if they work together they could have a chance at earnhardt near the end here and but he made that pass without the help of another car right on his bumper that was pretty impressive [Music] three laps to go any one of these cars could win it earnhardt mayfield schrader bobby labonte in prime position jimmy spencer coming up on the inside there's labonte trying to go on the outside of rusty wallace off of turn two can he make that pass and also dead he's split rusty from his teammate mayfield jeff gordon's dropping back that looks like a problem on gordon's car he's completely out of contention here into turn three where leroy yarborough beat charlie glotchbeck on the last lap in 1969 look at bobby labonte coming up on the outside by himself he got a little help from jimmy's spencer bounces off the wall keeps on trucking two laps to go big time hit by spencer but i told you bobby labonte was moving just a little while ago what a muscle move on the outside fastest qualifier here for the 500 showing his muscle now three makes in the 500 chevy pontiac ford that's how they run but earnhardt has a benefit there's a slow car up ahead and there's trouble coming off of turn two some cars get strangled it might be this whoever gets back to the start finish line they'll get the fight and the yellow together lake speed and john andretti tangled as the leaders head for turn number three and ready and spencer got together this could be the daytona 500 bobby levine goes to the outside labonte up high earnhardt uses the left car of rick bass to the as a pick 20 years of trying 20 years of frustration dale earnhardt will come to the caution flag to win the daytona 500. finally the most anticipated moment in racing if john elway can win the super bowl dale earnhardt said he could win the daytona 500 and if he comes around under caution to complete this final lap the taste of long awaited victory will be his wow what a drive by dale earnhardt doing everything he had to do today bobby lebron is saying boy i needed that last lap at the top of the show you saw the steely eyes of dale earnhardt i'll bet they'll be cheerful when he pulls into victory lane let me tell you it'll make the strongest man on earth cry when you win this race is special bobby labonte comes across the line to the caution flag in second jeremy mayfield's forward third kenny schroeder with a shot at that two million dollar bonus as did bobby labonte checkered flag dale bernhardt finally is a champion of the daytona 500. larry mcreynolds for the second time in this great race will go to victory lane once with the late davey allison and today with archer the run to the caution flag from turn three he came up on rick mask mcmast moved to the inside and that's all earnhardt needed but it was just some racetrack up there to run on yeah you can see bobby labonte and mayfield hitting as they come down towards the drive will may feel not quite there's the crew larry mcreynolds and his team looking at earnhardt big hug from richard childress the car owner what a chance to win the eighth championship momentum richard childress you have tried so hard so long you have done it what is it like to finally win the daytona 500 unbelievable unbelievable you know this team this year we took all winter and i just i can't say enough about dale earnhardt gm goodwrench has stood behind and most of all are race fans unbelievable and there are people in this victory area that are in tears they used to boo dale earnhardt when he was winning too much that'll happen if you dominate any sport but today when they introduced the intimidator the crowd was full of cheers i think everyone if their favorite driver couldn't win the daytona 500 they wanted to see this man drive to victory lane you pull up for the check of the spoiler one of the nascar officials crawls underneath the car 71st career winston cup victory for the second generation driver and seven-time national champion [Music] he sent her to make a big man cry here's chocolate myers of earnhardt's crew well they don't don't get any bigger but i'll tell you what i feel about the same way look out on pit roar every man on every crew has come out to the edge of pit lane to congratulate the man who has dominated everything there is to win in this sport except this race until today that's great there was todd parrot dale jarrett's crew chief other members other team members of other andy petry was there and this will be the longest receiving line in the history of celebrations wow yep i've never seen that mike not that many normally we'll see two or three or four teams come out there but this is something that i was going to say the same thing i had about 10 teams come out when i won this one but look at this everybody knows what it means for the man that's done everything to finally get the daytona 500. there's derek culp or rather ernie irvin's crew there's nascar officials out there there's robert presley's crew ricky craven's team nascar officials he's shaking everybody's hand too if you notice 59 races since he's been to victory lane 19 daytona 500s twice he led at the white flag and failed to take the checker in first place but today belongs to the man who grew up at the corner of coach and sedan street in kannapolis north carolina a mill town north of charlotte where he worked underneath that house in a garage on his own race cars and those of his father to become one of nascar's two greatest champions he and richard petty the only two drivers with seven winston cups on their trophy shelf mike he's a long way from victory circle yet in the crowds building and earnhardt along with bobby lobotti jeremy mayfield rusty wallace and again kren schroeder will have a shot at that rj reynolds million dollar bonus when they post it next time later this season last year at darlington south carolina some question earnhardt's ability to go 500 miles when he blanked out on the first lap at darlington south carolina and had to climb from the car and go to the care center what's a circle there goes the grass a smoke show the fella who drives his craftsman truck ron hornaday likes to do when he celebrates a victory and now look at that thrawn can he get to victory lane from here he's going to have to have a lot of help from a lot of security people to get there it looks like i want to hear what he has to say don't worry he's won at this racetrack 30 times he better than anyone knows the way to victory lane [Music] the most anticipated moment in the history of nascar racing dale earnhardt rolling into victory lane in the daytona 500. awaiting dale earnhardt is the man who brought the daytona 500 to cbs ken squire the 20-year quest is over gates have just opened for dale earnhardt in victory lane at daytona here's his wife theresa coming to speak to him one for dale earnhardt perhaps one for neil bonnett as well about to ratchet himself out of this beautifully prepared car he said patience was what it was going to take and patience is what he gave it all right getting on the hat he's waiting on this and he's ready to clamber out ready to step out of car number three the winner of the daytona 500. gonna have a drink of soda here it's been a long time before refreshment here all right here he comes out of his car and listen to this [Music] two decades he's waited for this moment and it's here and everybody gets a bath [Applause] [Music] dales [Music] yes yes yes yes yes what a show here with larry mcreynoldson of big hug and richard childress dale how about that ride how about it man can you can you believe it number one got an awesome race car with two thank you good lord for a good day this race car did everything the good lord looked after it all day long good rich this is for all them race fans and all them people have been saying dale this is your year dale this is your year and boy a lot of them said it this year all the way from mr france all the way down to todd parrott and all the guys on the team the daytona 500 is ours we've won it we've won it we've won it and everybody took a shot at you at the end i don't care who was taking shots at me i was driving driving the mirror more was the front but you know i tell you these great sponsors these great people that's worked with us and give us everything we need to win with this is a good race car the spinny clinton hey david congratulations on you baby and uh lady mcreynolds spendy clinton richard chillers we got one heck of a race team we're going to win a championship this year one for dale and one for theresa one for neil bonnett two today well one for a lot of people t wayne robinson and uh you know all neil bought it my dad everybody that's been in racing has been my friend to toss me taught me so much that touched my life there's so many of them i can't thank them all my mom thank you mom i know she's back home dale jr hope you're not too sore carrie and kelly i love y'all you've touched a lot of people here today and we'll be back for the trophy presentation in a moment after these messages well we're back here in victory lane john graham president of the daytona international speedway after perhaps the greatest 500 of them all is about to make the presentation to dale earnhardt symbol of victory in the great american race john ken dale we get you up here for a second dale congratulations here is a replica of the harley j earl trophy symbolic of the champion of the daytona 500 and we'll inscribe your name on the permanent harley j earl trophy on display along with your winning car in daytona usa year round congratulations a great day somebody may get hurt here i'll tell you it's a great day and uh i was wondering if i'd ever get my name on that trophy when you all built that thing and it's it's going to be great to have this in my trophy case but it's for richard tillerson all the guys everybody worked so hard for this there's too many people in my life i had to think that i couldn't think about right now dale you lose that car for a whole year it's going to be a daytona usa they'll roll it in tonight that's why i took it out in the grass spun around a little bit i knew i wasn't going to erase her again i just thought i'd throw a little grass up very well planned those pit stops were just immaculate today well they were the guys did a great job and dale didn't choke it on the pit road so everything worked great now i can't say enough for this team i tell you we've had so many people that really worked so hard for gm goodreads service they have been you know supportive all the way through here we are in victory lane again i knew we could do it and you did it and you did it in style let's go to dick bergeron i'm with bobby labonte who put on a terrific run at the end to finish second his best ever in the daytona 500 where did all that speed come from at the end of the day you know jimmy spencer really helped me out a lot all day all week long and our cars worked really good together and you know he's uh you know he's kind of out there i've got a few guys to work with but we work good together all week and uh you know brought this interstate pontiac you know put me back up there and from about seventh back to second there with about three laps to go so it's a pretty awesome run for us and the little guy is tyler labonte ralph jeremy mayfield a tremendous run for you tell me about that last lap man i'm glad it's over with uh you know had a really strong car the mobile one ford was just outstanding all day didn't make any adjustments uh the pit stops were great my teammate great i mean we worked together good all day and that's uh shows the class site between both teams we both ran good together and helped each other and uh you know everybody started shuffling around at the end and really didn't have a chance to make a run on him but you know we give her a best shot your new teammate rusty wallace was the first one over to congratulate you is this teammate thing really going to work out what do you say to you man just thumbs up you know rusty's a great guy we've become really good friends we're here to help each other you know the 2 and the 12 cars not going to race each other we're here to help each other and that show today and and uh you know rusty man what a guy you know he's won everything here is to win and having him in your corner means a lot this could be a new powerful force jeremy mayfield and rusty wallace and winston cup racing ken victory lane that's the place to be that's where earnhardt is after 20 years of trying here in the great american race we'll be back with more of the story after this

Channel: NASCAR

Views: 617,097

Keywords: NASCAR, motorsports, racing, stock car, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, chase elliott, fantasy sports, fantasy fastlane, glass case of emotion, ryan blaney, crash, wreck, pileup, pit road, penalty, race track, super speedway, highlight, Dale Earnhardt finally wins the Daytona 500 | 1998 Daytona 500 | NASCAR Classic Race Replay, Dale Earnhardt finally wins the Daytona 500, 1998 Daytona 500, NASCAR Classic Race Replay

Id: LYYNigzNqpI

Length: 157min 44sec (9464 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 11 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/CaptainRon16]

... Fianally!”

[u/KWeber94]

This call will be cemented into my brain as one of the greatest calls in NASCAR history. Between this and the 01’ Pepsi 400... chills every time

[u/snowman_racing]

Oh hell yes, lunch break is going to kickass today

[u/TheResurrection]

I remember watching this race live when I was seven years old. My dad was a massive Earnhardt fan so it was a big day in my household. This'll be the first time I've watched the full race since the original airing.

[u/bigred91224]

Wow this is good quality. Especially the framerate

[u/ObjectivePrize8]

side note: it blows my mind how filthy the track is the whole race lol

[u/albundy66]

This was also Mike Joy's first 500