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CNN Live Sunday

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Pepsi 400 Race at Daytona

Aired July 08, 2001 - 16:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: At Daytona last evening, NASCAR's Pepsi 400 ends with a Hollywood finish. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finds a way to remember his late father winning at Daytona. CNN Sports Illustrated correspondent John Giannone has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN GIANNONE, CNN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He praised the superior mechanics, the expert handling and the flawless team work of his pit crew, but in the deepest recesses of his still-aching heart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. believes that what guided him to victory lane on Saturday at Daytona was a spiritual copilot.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NASCAR DRIVER: You can't really say, yeah, I felt it, but I had a good idea that something funny was going on, and you know, things worked out. I ain't really never had a car that was just that fast. I mean, it was faster than anybody else's, hands down, they could not pass it.

I was a little teary-eyed when I crossed the finish line. Coming down the short shoot there, I mean, it just gets to you, emotions get to you. I ain't too excited about getting all teary-eyed, but you know, you can't help it. This is our little way of kind of doing something or saying something for daddy. You know, make a little -- you know, it's a -- this is a way to remember him. I mean, you can't even write a script better than this, you know what I'm saying? You can't do it.

GIANNONE: When the green flag fell with six lapse remaining, Earnhardt's down-trodden crew chief felt their opportunity had sped away. What followed was a dynamic dash to the front that was every bit as bold as bodacious as the style his father so expertly patented.

EARNHARDT: I had some help behind me, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) helped me a lot at the end, gave me a good shove when I needed one, and then the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Michael Waltrip back there, with two laps to go, I didn't have a thing to worry about.

MICHAEL WALTRIP, NASCAR DRIVER: I was stuck at 15th with seven to go, and just -- you know, fate intervened and got me up through there and found me the holes and found the back of that Budweiser Chevy, and that's the best feeling in the whole world.

EARNHARDT: This means a lot to a lot of people. I'm having a good time with it, it makes me feel good. And I think a lot more people really needed this probably more than I did.

GIANNONE (on camera): Earnhardt, Jr.'s victory came 11 years to the day of his father's first Pepsi 400 win. And while Michael Waltrip provided the push to the finish line, it turns out Earnhardt Jr. would have had plenty of other volunteers. And that includes Rusty Wallace, who has never won a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) race, but who said afterwards he would have gladly helped Earnhardt find the way to victory lane.

At the Daytona International Speedway, I'm John Giannone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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