Earnhardt Triumphs In Shootout In First Race With Hendrick

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It didn’t take Dale Earnhardt, Jr. long to prove he made the right decision to join Hendrick Motorsports.
Earnhardt scored a victory in his very first race for his new team, winning Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout under the lights at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
“I don’t know what took him so long to win a race for us,” said team owner Rick Hendrick. “It sure takes a lot of pressure off to come down and win a race early and have a lot of fun.”
It was Earnhardt’s first NASCAR win since the Richmond Cup race in May 2006. Nearly two years later, he can finally get rid of that burden.
“I never felt like I had a monkey on my back,” said Earnhardt. “I’ve always raced with pressure and lived with tumultuous situations. It was never a golden road and easy to travel. It is what it is.
“There is a lot of pressure for us, but we’ve always delivered and I hope we continue.”
Earnhardt’s Chevrolet finished ahead of Tony Stewart’s Toyota. Two of Earnhardt’s teammates were next with Jimmie Johnson’s Chevrolet third, followed by Jeff Gordon’s Chevy and Reed Sorenson’s Dodge.
“Great race car, boys,” Earnhardt radioed to his crew. “This might be a Daytona 500 winner.”
Hendrick radioed back, “Way to start our deal, baby.”

GRAND ENTRANCE: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. celebrates his victory in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona Int'l Speedway, his first race with Hendrick Motorsports. (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Earnhardt led seven times for 47 laps in the race — the most in Bud Shootout history — to score his second career win in this race. He defeated Stewart by .138-second, won at an average speed of 140.751 miles per hour and collected $215,000 for the victory.
“That was fun,” Earnhardt said. “The Shootout is a neat race. I had a blast those last few laps. I didn’t win the race without Jimmie Johnson pushing me. Thanks to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. Wow, man, it was fun. I’m so happy, my new team, victory lane. ...Man, it don’t get no better.”
“I was able to drive this car anywhere I wanted tonight. I’m so surprised to be here. I thought we would have to be patient before we could really enjoy the hard work. Jimmie Johnson put us in the lead and I have to give him a lot of credit.”
In fact, Earnhardt said having his teammates line up behind him and push him to the victory was half the reason he got there in the first place.
“We had a lot of help at the end from Jimmie Johnson and that was half the credit to the win,” Earnhardt said. “It was a great handling package. We had a great motor. The car was really good. The race itself, we had a good car all night.
“Just got lucky in the end being in the right lane getting the right help from the right guy.”
Stewart’s second-place finish actually brought a smile to the face of a driver who was involved in controversy Friday night after an incident with Kurt Busch.
“I’m pretty happy because it’s hard to beat Dale, Jr.,” Stewart said. “I’m not sure he’s not better than his dad in all honesty. It was fun. It is fun when you get around guys you can trust like that.”
After a spin by Busch, the green flag waved with three laps left and Stewart was in front of Gordon and Earnhardt.
Gordon decided to tuck behind Stewart’s car but quickly learned he made the wrong decision as Earnhardt was able to use the outside line to race to the lead.
“It was good having those three or four guys together there,” Stewart said. “He is one of the best that has ever driven restrictor-plate cars. He knows where to be and so does Jimmie. It’s never in your favor to have those three guys lined up by any means. It didn’t help us any. I think it was just a good race. They are good at knowing their strength in numbers. That’s just being smart and they are smart for doing that.”
With 10 laps to go, Earnhardt’s Chevy was in front of Stewart and Johnson. But Stewart was laying back until the right moment and drove past Earnhardt in the third turn for the lead with nine to go.
But with six laps to go, Busch’s Dodge had a tire go down. He was able to get back on the track before his car got completely loose and shot back up the track.
The yellow flag waved to set up a late-race shootout that was ultimately won by NASCAR’s most popular driver.
“That was great looking in the mirror and seeing teammates,” Earnhardt said. “That’s what I would have done. Those guys build their cars and try just as hard as you do. You can only expect so much help as a teammate. You have to work together and we did. I got a lot of help tonight. That’s the way it should be, to help each other and stay up to the front. They have fast cars like we do.
“It would be hard to beat us, hard to lose.”