Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have no troubles with his switch to Hendrick Motorsports and the next-generation race car put on one heckuva show.
Earnhardt Jr. led 47 laps en route to his win, holding off Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and a surprisingly strong Reed Sorenson.
"The shootout is a neat race. Those last few laps I got some great help from my teammates and that was awesome," said Earnhardt Jr. "I'm so happy. It's my new team, in victory lane. It don't get no better."Junior led the field at the white flag with Stewart on his tail. When the field found the start/finish line for the final time, the No. 88 led a pack of two by two cars, scoring a convincing win in his first ride with the National Guard and AMP as sponsors on board.
The win was Earnhardt Jr.'s second-career Budweiser Shootout victory.
Throughout the last segment of 50 laps, the entire pack of cars still in contention stayed together racing two and three-wide. Many thought that the combination of tires and the handling of the new cars would cause the cars to string out and race like old-time Daytona races.
Instead, the race seemed more like an event at Talladega Superspeedway without the signature "big one" multi-car wreck. In other words, the remainder of Speedweeks at Daytona are pretty much guaranteed to be quite exciting in both the Gatorade 150s on Thursday and 500 on Sunday.
Qualifying for the positions 1st and 2nd as well as the lineup for the Duels races will be set Sunday afternoon on FOX.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
2-09-2008 @ 11:16PM
DeNault said...
Yeah! Go Junior!
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2-09-2008 @ 11:26PM
Leslie said...
Junior just silenced all the people who questioned his talent... Way to go.
88 in 08 #1
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2-10-2008 @ 12:07AM
Nicole said...
JR ROCKS!!!
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2-10-2008 @ 12:07AM
cnancw said...
Go Jr.....I am really happy for him....now that his life has settled down he will be back to his winning ways.
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2-10-2008 @ 12:28AM
shelly said...
Yahoo! Move it on over because Jr is going to take this year hands down. good job Bud! gooooo love ya Shelly
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2-10-2008 @ 2:02AM
Dino said...
Way to go junebug!!! The ole man should be real proud of you kid. You picked up right where he left off!! Keep on ROCKING!! See you in victory lane after the 500 Later--- Dino outta New Haven Ct.
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2-10-2008 @ 2:25AM
TODD DUFFLEY said...
Wow!What a race , What a win! Congrats Junebug!
....Todd Duffley ~Canton,Ohio
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2-10-2008 @ 2:34AM
Henrietta Knight said...
Yea Jr, I knew he was going to win, I just knew it!
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2-10-2008 @ 2:44AM
cliffwizard said...
I FEEL SORRY FOR ALL THE JR HATERS THIS YEAR. IT MUST BE THAT NEW CAR SMELL IN THE # 88. LMAO
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2-10-2008 @ 2:51AM
Karen said...
Way to go Jr. you sure have a lot of loyal fans out here. We all Love You and are glad to see you at your best with this team. Looking forward to a good season, with your new team.
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2-10-2008 @ 3:40AM
jazzysam said...
Yesssss...............!!!!!!!! Bite That One Teresa !!!!! WAY TO GO JR. 88 88 88 !!!!!!
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2-10-2008 @ 3:52AM
steve said...
Who hasnt figured out NASCARS script for 2008?..Gee, imagine that, JR wins the first race for Hendrick!!!
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2-10-2008 @ 3:59AM
steve said...
wake up folks, he was SUPPOSED to win.
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2-10-2008 @ 7:03AM
Gwyn said...
"It's hard to beat Dale Jr., he's one of the best restrictor-plate drivers there's ever been," Stewart said. "He learned a lot from his Dad, and I'm not sure he's not better than his Dad."
Works for me.
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2-10-2008 @ 7:39AM
Karl said...
Hendricks Motorsports is now even stronger (4 of the top 6 spots). Gordon, Earnhart, Johnson.....and that other guy. Someone called this new line-up the Patriots of NASCAR. That doesn't come close. Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Jordan's Bulls, the 70's Steelers are all much better comparisons for the Domination at hand! Go Gordon! Go Junior! Go Jimmy! GO OTHER GUY, GO!
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2-10-2008 @ 8:01AM
Mike said...
Congrats to Jr. I have a hard time subscribing to any theory that 22 of the most competitive drivers in Nascar allowed Jr to win. You have to be way the hell out there to even think that kind of stuff. If you are going to ridicule someone when they do not win you need to be man enough to congratulate them when they do. Good job Jr.
Mike LeVan
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2-10-2008 @ 8:21AM
kingedtx said...
In the script??? Let Junior win????? Sorry these drivers are too competitive and have way to much at risk to "let anybody win". However I can see where last year his engines might have been sabbotaged. After all I believe his late father said "If you ain't cheating, you ain't winning".
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2-10-2008 @ 8:43AM
joe said...
steve cmon now how can it be that jr was suppose to win are you nutz the other teams have way too much in this to let him win you must be a harvick fan or some thing like that just forget it jrs got the right cars an hendricks giving him the power face he will be this years champ
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2-10-2008 @ 8:47AM
Nancy said...
Two 8's twice the fun! WTG JR!
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2-10-2008 @ 9:04AM
IRW said...
What an exciting race, tony almost had it but JR came thru w/an Earnhardt pass, GO JR, farewell finally Teresa!!
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