CONCORD, N.C. -- A champion has returned home.
This week, the No. 88 Chevrolet SS that Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to victory in the 2014 Daytona 500 was brought back to Concord, North Carolina.
For the past year, it sat in the Daytona International Speedway Ticket and Tours building as part of a tradition that began in 1996.
But just before last Sunday's Great American Race, the speedway returned the winning car to Hendrick Motorsports Owner Rick Hendrick.
Now, it sits next to Jimmie Johnson's 2013 Daytona 500-winning No. 48 Chevrolet SS in the Hendrick Motorsports Museum & Team Store.
The Museum & Team Store building is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The same process occurred last year, when Johnson's car was returned to the Hendrick Motorsports campus while Earnhardt's winning car was proudly displayed at Daytona.
And then, with a new winner crowned for 2015, it was time for a changing of the guard.