Goody’s 300 Proves It’s Never Too Late for a Little Comeback

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It took Chad Little 118 laps to get from 42nd to first in the Goody’s 300 Saturday, but once he got there his timing was perfect.

Seconds after the former Winston West champion from Spokane, Wash., passed Steve Grissom for the lead, a nine-car pileup on the front straightaway caused the race for Busch Grand National cars to end two laps later under a yellow caution flag at Daytona International Raceway.

Little, who earned a law degree from Gonzaga before becoming a full-time race driver, was a provisional starter in a Ford owned by former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien. It was Little’s first Busch victory and Rypien’s first as a car owner. They earned $71,411.

“You can’t win a bigger (Busch) race; it’s the Super Bowl of the Grand National division,” said Rypien, a former Super Bowl most valuable player for the Washington Redskins.