Junior Has a Senior Moment

The dichotomy of Daytona.

The most depressing moment of his life.

And, now, the most defining.

The tears poured down his cheeks then and drowned out his spirit.

And, now, the cheers rained down upon him and enlivened his soul.

The dichotomy of Daytona.

This woebegone place took a father’s life.

And, now, this wonderful place has invigorated a son’s desire.

Three years ago, it was as if Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been hit by a shotgun blast.

And, now, it was like Dale Earnhardt Sr. was riding shotgun -- “and having a blast.”

“This is more important to me than any other race because of Dad,” an emotional Earnhardt Jr. confessed Sunday after winning his first Daytona 500, three years after his father perished here. “Every time we come here, we all feel it, whatever it is. You just feel real strong about being here.

“In a way, I feel closer to Dad when I come here. But it’s a reminder of losing him all over again.”

In this sport, in this crazy sport, there’s no time to stand still. The hand of time must give way to the foot of lead. You go forward -- fast forward. That’s what Junior has done better than anybody has had a right to expect.

Three years ago, he was racing in Rockingham four days after burying his father. That’s what you do if you’re a racing man. You shed your tears, you shed your fears ... you shift them gears.

It’s like Dale Earnhardt Sr. said a few years ago after old buddy Neil Bonnett died at Daytona: “You move on. You hurt ... and you move on.”

Junior has moved on, moved up and, finally, moved to the top of the sport Sunday. He gave NASCAR and its fans what they desperately wanted -- another delicious Dale-tona moment.

Some will cry “fix!” again, just as they did last time Junior won on this track. Remember? It was when Junior won the Pepsi 400 only five months after his father died on the same track. The conspiracy theorists ran rampant, innuendo raged, even other drivers wondered.

“I knew going in the No. 8 car was going to win this race,” Jimmy Spencer said at the time. “Something was fictitious.”

There was no fiction this time. This was not fabricated, only fabulous. There was no concocted conspiracy, only complete control. Junior was so dominant and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) car so superior that the ultra-competitive Tony Stewart said afterward that he was “just tickled to finish in second.”

Not that it wasn’t interesting for a while. For a brief time late in the race, rookie Scott Wimmer led, only a few weeks after being arrested for driving while impaired.

And, oh what a blast headline writers would have had with: “DUI Beats DEI.” But, alas, Earnhardt and Stewart passed Wimmer.

How appropriate that the leader of the free world was there Sunday to see the coronation of a new king. President Bush was the official starter.

It was a day of presidents and patriotism and patriarchs. And never have these words from “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” meant so much:

Land of the pilgrim’s pride.

Land where my fathers died.

That is the dichotomy of Daytona.

The track where the sun set on a father’s life.

And, now, the son rises once again.