The car was handling great, and it felt like some of my other DEI superspeedway cars because it could pass really well. But this one had a blast of extra muscle, kind of like a good running back who turns an eight-yard run into a hard-fought 12-yard gain by grinding forward. The engine in this car kept digging for those extra yards.
I would need all of the handling and the muscle to get by Tony. We had been drafting with each other all day, which was cool because he is a good friend of mine; I couldn't think of many people I'd rather race for a win in the Daytona 500 than him.
What I wasn't so sure about was who, if anybody, would come with me if I pulled out of line to try and get a run past him. My best drafting partner was the guy I was trying to pass. Some people know how to do it better than others. My dad was the best. Some guys have their own agenda, and some guys know if they hook up with you, they'll go to the front. But at that point of the race, we were having problems finding drafting partners, period. I haven't had a whole lot of friends at plate tracks the last couple of years. Success at restrictor-plate tracks comes with a price, and I guess you've got to pay. You become the guy everybody wants to beat. If you tell me Jeff Gordon is going to win the Daytona 500, then he's the guy I want to keep my eye on all day if I'm going to beat him. Now, it seems like I'm the guy with the target.
Drafting partners depend on the situation you're in and the way your car reacts around others. You can't predict it because there are too many different combinations to imagine them all. Every year the media asks me who my drafting partner will be. Will it be Michael? Tony? Jeff? Someone else? "Hey, Junior, who are ya gonna work with?" It's an impossible question to answer before the race, so I usually say, "Get back to me when there are 20 laps to go." That's when you need to get creative.
Making The PassThe main goal as the race starts is to work with your teammate. Michael and I have had quite a few 1-2 finishes at restrictor-plate tracks. You've got to help your teammate before you help anybody else. But Michael was involved in a scary accident on Lap 71 when his car flipped and landed upside down on the backstretch. I was worried about how he was gonna get out, because he's a big guy that doesn't have much extra room even when the car's upright. He was OK, but done for the day. Now I had to look for who was left, who was fast, and who I could work with.
Tony and I ran first and second for much of the day, and I knew the time was coming to make my move. I tried to pass Tony for seven or eight laps. I tried every move I knew. Each lap, I tried to do something else to get by, and he did everything to keep me behind him. The pass for the lead happened on the backstretch going into Turn 3, but the entire move started almost a full lap earlier. I had to get the exact run on him off Turn 4, then be in the right spot into Turns 1 and 2 before we shot down the backstretch at 200 miles per hour. I got a good run, drove my car to the high side, and when Tony went up to block me, I swept back across his bumper and got enough momentum to get a nose out in front. Everything had to be perfect, and I finally got it right. I saw he had some drafting help coming, but my car was like that running back fighting for extra yards. That was what it took to make the pass, and I was able to squeeze in front.
I was leading the Daytona 500, but after watching the hell my dad went through for 20 years, no one had to tell me to not get excited until I crossed the finish line. Fifteen laps to go. Then 10. Then 5. Tony was trying to use lapped traffic and whatever he could to get by me, but the Budweiser Chevrolet was haulin'! The last five laps were nerve-racking, and I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat under a rocking chair. I didn't want to finish second again.