- #Nascar drivers best tracks drivers#
- #Nascar drivers best tracks driver#
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With the exception of road course racing, this may be his weakest hand, but he still has two Daytona 500 rings. 4 stamped in my brain because he was an authority on restrictor-plate tracks during the mid- to late-'90s. Nobody would put their money on him at Martinsville, but he was a heck of an investment on the two largest tracks on the circuit. His win in the 2001 Daytona 500 was overshadowed by the darkest day in our sport and the loss of his boss and car owner. Mikey won't ever make it to the NASCAR Hall of Fame based solely on his driving ability, but one thing he did exceptionally well was Daytona and Talladega.
#Nascar drivers best tracks drivers#
These are the best drivers I ever competed against in this form of racing: #10 Michael Waltrip On the eve of the 60th running of the Daytona 500, it seems appropriate to acknowledge those who fall in line behind Earnhardt, the man who turned drafting into a form of art. The next laps I ran at Daytona were 2 mph faster, and the only adjustment made to my car was the line I was driving. "If you imagine snow coming off the front of your car and hitting the wall, it will come right back out in front of the car, and you are just gonna keep pushing it!" Almost immediately he barked at me, "Why are you getting so damn close to the wall on the exit of turn two?" I believe I replied, "Aren't you supposed to?" It was my first introduction to how powerful air could be at that speed and how critical it was to understand the dynamics and the techniques of drafting.Ī few days later, Dale Earnhardt and I crossed paths in the garage area, and I was eager to shake hands with him. To this day, I don't know how I didn't wreck! Needless to say, we hit pit road 30 seconds later.
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Jeff followed behind me at full throttle for a couple of laps, and as I approached a slower car, I got too close (as if I were competing at Martinsville), and my car snapped completely sideways at 200 mph. I summoned my buddy Jeff Gordon to draft with me. The first time I circled Daytona was in 1992. Much of what he applied at the 200-mph racetrack came from knowing where to place his car to negatively impact those he competed against, combined with a sixth sense of anticipating which lane on the track possessed the most energy. Navigating a restrictor-plate race successfully requires an ability to predict circumstance, anticipate and react to momentum, and drive with an authority that can only be described as instinctive.įor as long as restrictor-plate racing has existed in our sport, no one has mastered it the way Dale Earnhardt did. When you add 39 other competitors, it becomes a bit of a magic show. It's among the easiest things you'll ever do in a race car, provided you're on the track by yourself.
#Nascar drivers best tracks driver#
The allure and significance of the Daytona 500 would not be what it is today if Dale had not won that race 20 years ago.Īt Daytona, a driver can whistle around the track full throttle. What I value about that moment is witnessing how much Dale embraced the moment - atypical of a driver who spent most of his life being in a hurry. On that day, we all witnessed one of those rare moments in sports, when the competitiveness was overridden by appreciation and acknowledgment. It was the most unique moment I'd ever seen from an environment where teams opposed one another - sometimes vehemently. As I rolled down pit road, I noticed team members crossing over the wall, forming what could only be described as a congratulatory receiving line. The following year, after experiencing every form of Daytona 500 adversity imaginable, Dale Earnhardt Sr., "the greatest restrictor-plate driver ever," finally won the race that had eluded him throughout his career. "I've got this!" However, third was the closest I would ever get. I remember vividly, in the midst of spraying Champagne. I finished the race in third, in my third attempt. Just minutes after the checkered flag dropped in the 1997 Daytona 500, I stood in Victory Lane with my teammates Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon, celebrating the first-ever podium sweep for an organization in the Great American race. No race on the NASCAR schedule dominates its competitors the way the Daytona 500 does. Who are NASCAR's best restrictor-plate drivers?
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