Stewart survives Earnhardt onslaught.

Tony Stewart emerged victorious from a thrilling Bud Shootout at the Daytona International Speedway in which he survive a late race challenge from not one but two members of the Earnhardt family.

The 2001 Bud Shootout proved beyond a doubt that NASCAR has got it right with their latest aerodynamic changes to the Winston Cup cars as the 18 participants of the 70 lap non-Championship event put on a eat-of-your-pants show where six drivers combined for a total of 20 lead changes.

In the end it was the Joe Gibbs Racing No.20 Home Depot Pontiac of Tony Stewart who took the chequered flag first and pocketed $200,000 for his troubles. It was a deserved bonus for the Indiana native as he survived a late race charge from Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr after a thoroughly pulsating duel.

The race wasn't as wide open as the complete free-for-all seen at Talladega last autumn although the first five laps were spent three abreast all the way down the field as drivers jockeyed for position. Today's race was spectacular to watch with drivers changing places frequently but the atmosphere was slightly more controlled and a lot more depended on timing, precision and choosing the right line rather than just being thrown along in the draft.

One of the first people to discover the importance of having the right line and a drafting partner was pole sitter Ken Schrader who went from first to almost stone last during the opening two laps as everyone made a bid for the lead. Dale Jarrett came from fourth to first to lead lap one before dropping back and letting Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon squabble over who was going to lead the next couple.

Early drafting partnerships were soon formed with the Joe Gibbs Pontiac's of Stewart and Bobby Labonte doing as Stewart aid they would before the race which was link up early and go for the lead. Indeed the green and orange train worked most effectively during the opening ten laps as Labonte moved to the front to lead lap seven with Stewart tucked in behind.

Gordon and Earnhardt found themselves working together as they continued to pressure the leading two while the whole field battled ferociously behind with the order fluctuating lap after lap as drivers fell in and out of the draft.

Already by this point Ted Musgrave, guesting in the No.90 Hills Bothers Coffee, Junie Donlavey owned Ford, had dropped off the lead lap with the ex-Roush Racing driver reporting a severe vibration on the final pace-lap. Two precautionary stops ensued that were enough to put him several laps down although the car continued to circulate at a reasonable speed for the remainder of the race.

It was clear during the opening ten laps that some drivers were playing very cautiously while others chose more aggressive tactics and two of the most aggressive were Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr, who had quickly moved in to the frame in his No.8 Budweiser Chevrolet. These two young chargers were quick to form an alliance and Stewart actually used his newfound ally to draft past his own team-mate for he lead.

However Labonte was in no mood to play and quickly tried to re-establish himself in the lead as Dale Snr joined the fray creating a four car battle for the lead with the rest of the pack keeping a watching brief about three inches off the rear of Earnhardt's bumper!

As the race approached the realistic pit stop window, Labonte managed to regain the lead and bring some sort of semblance to proceedings and the No.18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac became the first car to lead more than two consecutive laps all day. However the Earnhardt family had other plans and once Stewart had been pushed back, father and son mounted a challenge on the leader. Of the two, Dale Jr was visibly keener to get by while dad preferred to sit back, wait for the right moment before teaching his son a valuable lesson that he will learn from and use to his advantage in years to come.

That moment came going into Turn One on lap 18 when Junior decided to go low on Labonte, fully expecting the co-operation of his father and the following bunch, however, dad simply went high, used the small bit of draft from Labonte to slingshot the turn and took the following pack of cars with him and into the lead. Junior meanwhile fell back to the lower reaches of the top ten, surely not seeing the benefit of that lesson just yet.

However Earnhardt's lead was short-lived as Stewart soon started to make his presence felt once again, frantically looking for an opening all around the 2.5-mile Superspeedway. As he had done earlier in the race with Gordon and Labonte, Stewart quickly forced 'The Intimidator' to concede and by lap 27 was firmly ensconced in top spot.

Pit stops started on lap 26 when Earnhardt, Gordon, Wallace, Mike Skinner, Joe Nemechek and Terry Labonte elected to make their mandatory fuel and tyre change with Wallace getting back on track first after deciding on only two tyres.

Much interest had been surrounding the form of Bill Elliott in the lone Dodge Intrepid qualified for the race after 'Awesome Bill from Dawsonville' had just come off his first pole position at Daytona for 13 years and the first for Dodge on their comeback to Winston Cup competition. Everyone knew the car was fast in a straight line but nobody really knew how it would perform in the draft. After weeks of sandbagging the opposition, many believed it would be hard for Elliott to find a drafting partner and sure enough, after running the first 25 laps just outside the top ten, Elliott pitted, alone.

With cars coming in earlier than had originally been predicted, the leading group thinned out to seven as the race approached half distance with Stewart maintaining his advantage over the recovering Earnhardt Jr, Labonte, Mark Martin and Jeremy Mayfield who had also been showing strongly in the midfield group.

From the outset it was clear that nearly everybody in the field had a strong car and although they didn't figure in the lead battle much during the opening half of the race, Ricky Rudd, Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Wallace all had a lot left in the tank, even if Jarrett and Burton were not happy with the apparent amount of drag their Ford Taurus' make in comparison with the Chevrolet and Pontiac teams.

The rest of the leaders came down pit-road almost in unison just after half distance with no dramas save for a momentary stall from the No.99 CITGO Ford of Burton who was quickly sent back out on his way and as the race moved into its final third, the top dozen or so cars were still tightly packed together with Stewart for the most part clinging on in front.

With 20 laps to go Stewart still led although he was under tremendous pressure from his team-mate and the Roush Racing Ford of Martin, looking for his first NASCAR victory without the colours of Valvoline on his car. However the main interest came a couple of feet behind the leaders as once again the Earnhardt duo found themselves on the race-track and began making a move to the front, junior once again leading dad.

By lap 53 the two Chevy's had picked off fifth placed Burton who was finding that his car just wouldn't let him go that final yard and make the decisive move to the front. A lap later it was fourth placed Jarrett's turn to be hung out to dry and the No.88 UPS Ford went plummeting back to the tail of the lead draft, which now numbered 14 cars.

Martin was also easy pray for the father/son combination and as the race moved into the final ten laps, Dale Jr's Budweiser sponsored machine was well and truly glued to the rear bumper of Stewart with the menacing figure of Dale Snr filling both their mirrors. This was pressure racing at it's very best and the crowd were loving it.

Following Stewart's every wheel track, the top three remained locked in position until the start of lap 67 when, seeing a glimpse of fresh air on the high side of Turn One, No.3 made it's move. As Dale Jr searched for a way past Stewart on the low side, Earnhardt almost repeated his earlier move on Labonte as he took the following pack high and passed Dale Jr. This time however, 'The Intimidator' was not finished and as the field swept onto the backstretch he went low on the leader and forced his nose alongside Stewart on their way into Turn Three.

There are very few who can resist Dale Earnhardt, three laps from home at the Daytona International Speedway and for the moment Stewart was not one of them as he conceded and allowed the black Chevy to lead lap 68, tucking neatly in behind him and waiting for his chance.

The orange Pontiac was instantly all over the back of Earnhardt, causing the leader to weave and duck all the way down the backstretch as Stewart sought a way through with Wallace now on the move in third and Jeff Gordon coming from nowhere to take fourth position with a lap and a half to go.

Into Turn Three for the penultimate time and Earnhardt tried to force Stewart as low as possible but the third year driver was having none of it and kept his nose in, finally taking the lead as the field hurtled into the tri-oval to take the white flag. As he was doing so Ken Schrader cruised down pit-road and stopped with a suspected oil-leak.

The crowd were on their collective feet as the field began the final lap, the top 14 cars still together in a mass of blurred colour with an orange blur fractionally leading a black blur and then a white/blue blur, it was as close as that.

Mustering all his experience, Earnhardt sat back in Turn One, homed in on his target coming down the back stretch, and went for the inside going into three only to have Stewart match him and keep his nose ahead all the way round the turn and onto the tri-oval where the Indiana native kept a car length ahead to make the best possible start to his Winston Cup season.

Team owner Joe Gibbs, overseeing the first Shootout win for his team said, "This is a great victory and I'm real proud of Tony and Bobby. It was a great race and good for the fans too, it's better for them to have a longer race."

Standing in victory lane, Stewart laid praise on his crew for his car, which allowed him to race as aggressively as he did throughout the event. He also had a few words about some of his drafting partners.

"I couldn't be happier for the Home Depot team," said the elated driver, who led four times for a total of 33 laps. "It was unfortunate that Bobby and me didn't get together enough on the race-track but I found a good team-mate in Dale Earnhardt Jr.... I was hoping Junior would stay with me but I saw Dale go by and I knew there was nothing I could do to help him. I feel bad but I did what I had to do to win this thing, I blocked every move and I don't like blocking but you've got to do it to win here."

Earnhardt was philosophical about his defeat, but for once did not have much to say against a restrictor plate race. "It was pretty exciting out there," explained the six time winner of the Bud Shootout. "I managed to get by Stewart but he had a stronger car and got by me again. He had the stronger car and our tyres were pretty worn out after the early stop."

Wallace came through strongly at the end to take third spot while Dale Jarrett found the best he could do with his extra drag in the draft, a situation created by the rule changes allowing car's to run in their current configuration, was fourth overall. Rounding out the top five was Jeff Burton who felt similar to Jarrett after what he described as a frustrating day.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had to make do with sixth overall after running strongly all day; at least he learned a lesson, or two! Others who had strong cars but who failed to be in the right place at the right time included seventh placed Labonte, eighth placed Martin, ninth placed Rudd and eleventh placed Gordon who found himself with no friends during the final two laps when it mattered the most.

Bill Elliott finished in the lead pack down in twelfth place after a quiet run in which he and the Ray Evernham team discovered the price of sandbagging during the winter months. A total of 16 cars were running at the end with the unfortunate Mayfield the only other casualty apart form Schrader, pulling up the No.12 Mobil 1 Penske Racing Ford just after half distance with a mechanical problem.

The Bud Shootout provided the fans with a glimpse of what can be expected this Thursday in the two Gatorade 125-mil qualifying race and, more importantly, next Sunday when the 43 starters take the green flag for the real thing, the 2001 Daytona 500. It is clear that NASCAR are moving in the right direction as far as the restrictor plate set-up is concerned and next Sunday's race should be a far cry from the follow-the -leader processions that have become the custom here over the past few years.