Earnhardt Chases Daytona Dream Racing Great Seeks Win; Wallace Has Fastest Time

Dale Earnhardt walked into the media tent Friday at Daytona International Speedway grinning.

Before even fielding a question, the seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion said, “I’m glad to be here, and I still haven’t won the Daytona 500.”

Virtually every year, Earnhardt goes into NASCAR’s most prestigious race as the favorite, and 18 times he has come up short.

So, here it is another year and another opportunity to win the one big event that has eluded one of the sport’s all-time greats.

But Earnhardt - though he longs to win this race - is a pragmatist. He knows that before you begin worrying about winning the Daytona 500, you have to qualify and then prepare your car to finish 500 miles.

Practice for the Feb. 16 Daytona 500 opened Friday on the high-banked, 2-1/2-mile oval, with Earnhardt - last year’s pole-winner and the runner-up to two-time Daytona winner Dale Jarrett - among the leaders.

Rusty Wallace, who has rarely been a contender at Daytona, led 50 drivers who posted practice times Friday with a lap of 189.187 mph. That made him at least a co-favorite to win the pole today, when first-round qualifying will determine the front row starting positions for the 500.

“I’m real happy,” Wallace said. “The car came off the truck running really, really good… . I absolutely have a shot at the pole. We’ll get her right. We really, honestly have some good stuff and we’re pumped up and ready. I have never in my life come to Daytona and felt as confident as I am right now.”

John Andretti, who led winter testing at Daytona with a lap of 189.458, showed it was no fluke, running close behind Wallace at 188.826.

“I haven’t felt this good going into a season in my professional career,” Andretti said. “The first race is Saturday - the pole race, and I would like to win the pole. I think we’ve got a shot at it. We’re really focused on it.

“Everything is pretty much the same as it was in testing,” he added. “We’ve tried a few new things. Is there still more left? I think there is.”

Also among the quick drivers Friday was Jarrett, who won the pole here in 1995.

“It’s just a matter of waiting until qualifying and see,” Jarrett said when asked who is likely to win the pole. “It’s so hard to tell right now because there are so many cars out there. You don’t know who is getting help and who isn’t and what you really need to run. But we feel good about our car.”

Earnhardt, who was 10th fastest in practice at 187.915, is also given at least an outside shot at winning the pole for a second straight time.

“It sure would be nice to sit on the pole again,” Earnhardt said. “It seems like we’re a little off in testing and practice versus last year. It seems like the Fords are a little faster than the Chevrolets.

“Still, we haven’t tuned the car for qualifying. We’ll do that in the morning. But I’m very happy so far. Unless I’m very, very wrong, this is going to be a great year for us.

“I’m very optimistic. I feel very good about our chances to win the 500.”

The 45-year-old Earnhardt has won everything else of any importance that there is to win at Daytona.

“We might not qualify on the pole, but we’ll damn sure race good. That’s the important thing.”

Besides his pole last year - his first for the 500-mile race - Earnhardt has won 28 events at Daytona, including two Pepsi 400s, nine 125-mile qualifying races, seven Busch Grand Nationals, six Busch Clashes and four IROC races.

“We’ve won so many things and missed the 500,” Earnhardt said. “Maybe this time we won’t win anything up until the 500.”

Then the grin broke out again.

“Nah! We’ll still win the Busch Clash,” he said.