Dale Earnhardt Jr. captures second DAYTONA 500 after record rain delay | 40 wins in 40 days

Editor’s note: This is the 32nd in a 40-part series highlighting 40 of the greatest wins in the history of Hendrick Motorsports to finish its 40th anniversary season. A new installment will be released each day from Nov. 22, 2024 through New Year’s Eve. Votes were taken from Hendrick Motorsports employees as well as representatives of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Racing Insights with all unanimous selections being ushered in automatically. The remaining wins were deliberated and decided upon by a small panel.

CONCORD, N.C. - Heading into the 2014 season, it was safe to say that things at Hendrick Motorsports hadn't gone quite the way Dale Earnhardt Jr. had planned. 

In one of the biggest surprise moves in the history the sport, Earnhardt Jr. left Dale Earnhardt, Inc. for Hendrick Motorsports prior to the 2008 season. Just 15 races into that year, he picked up a victory at Michigan International Speedway. 

But that was one of a select few highlights to that point. In 214 starts over six seasons, Earnhardt Jr. had won just twice while piloting the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports entry. And when you're the sport's most popular driver, you're also the most scrutinized. 

Riding a 55-race winless streak into the 2014 season and with crew chief Steve Letarte having recently announced he would step down and join the NBC broadcast booth the following season, the urgency was reaching a fever pitch for Earnhardt Jr. But he, nor team owner Rick Hendrick ever waivered. And still, that resonates. 

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"All the years we raced together, we had some good times, but racing is mostly about struggle and challenges and adversity," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Even through some of the most difficult years of my career when things weren't going well at all, never did Rick give me the look or the vibe that he'd given up on me. He was under as much pressure (to win) as I was." 

The good news? If there was ever a place to turn things around as far as Earnhardt Jr. was concerned, it was Daytona International Speedway. 

He'd won the 2004 DAYTONA 500, 10 years prior, and he'd retire with four victories total to go with another six wins at Talladega Superspeedway, giving him 10 total on drafting tracks. Also, he'd finished as the runner up the year prior to teammate Jimmie Johnson. 

A point that was heavily on Letarte's mind at a crucial point of the race. 

But the team would have to wait a while for that. A long while. 

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As in six hours and 22 minutes worth of a rain delay. Caution waved on lap 31 and two laps later, Earnhardt Jr. was the first car onto pit road with several leaders deciding to stay out. But before the cars could fire back off, rain arrived just 38 laps in. 

Daylight became dusk became dark but at 8:52 p.m., when the race resumed, Earnhardt Jr.'s car was every bit as fast as it had been before. He spent much of the next 80 or 90 laps in and around the top 10. And he was right where he was the year prior for the most part, hooked onto Johnson's back bumper. 

But a subtle turning point was coming. On lap 128, several leaders, including Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. hit pit road. While Johnson took four tires, Earnhardt Jr. took two, resulting in the flip-flop of track position. By the time the pit cycle completed, Earnhardt Jr. had inherited the lead. 

Letarte had his driver right where he wanted him. 

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“We ran second to Jimmie the year before and the reason we ran second to Jimmie, we never had track position,” Letarte explained. “So, we took two tires on a pit stop to cycle in front of the Hendrick group and that was really the call that won the race. Dale did what he did best. There’s no one I’d rather have defending in close races at superspeedways than Dale Earnhardt Jr.”

Still, a few crashes, some formidable challengers and an iffy fuel-mileage situation still presented hurdles. Not to mention another storm cell developing to the west of Daytona Beach, Florida. 

The "big one" erupted on lap 145, resulting on a final pit stop on lap 150. Again, Letarte called for two tires, not about to sacrifice track position on a night when fresh rubber didn't pay big dividends. 

Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon got together with 39 laps remaining but for the most part, the lead pack was committed to getting to the end. Earnhardt Jr. still led as the night's final caution flag waved due to an accident with seven laps remaining. 

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That set up a two-lap sprint to the finish. Earnhardt Jr. lined up on the inside row and took a massive push from teammate Jeff Gordon out to the front, where he was able to hold both lines at bay, blocking one final run from Denny Hamlin to the stripe as cars slammed into each other in the middle of the pack. 

All that did, however, was hamper Earnhardt Jr.'s victory celebration a bit. But it sure didn't temper his smile or jubilation. 

"That was a big deal. That was with Steve Letarte and it was his first DAYTONA 500 win," Earnhardt Jr. remembered. "Just to be able to go to victory lane and celebrate at the end of that race, you can't describe it. I'm not even going to try."

“Even to this day, being a DAYTONA 500 winning crew chief, when you go into the hall of fame people talk about how many championships you won and then how many DAYTONA 500s you won,” Letarte added. “It becomes an emboldened line on your resume forever and that’s really what it is.” 

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But on that night, it was more than just that to Earnhardt Jr. He admitted the win was special because of the trials and tribulations of the preceding years. He would add three more victories that season to go with three more in 2015 before hanging it up at the end of 2017. 

Now, when he reflects, he's even more appreciative of the owner that stood by him through those hard times and celebrated with him during the good. The same one who sat in his driver-side window that night at Daytona and hitched a ride to victory lane. 

"Rick is somebody who does what he says he'll do," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I felt like me and Rick had a great relationship and I trusted him. I think the trust and all those things played a big factor in going there. 

"So, to be able to regroup and regain some success and get back to victory lane later in my career the last couple years I drove was nice. We got to end on a high note with some pretty important moments for me. I was glad because I wasn't sure at one point if I was going to go out on good terms with not only Rick, but the sport in general. I was struggling there for a couple (of) years, but he hung in there and we changed some things and kept changing things and found a combination that worked for me."