Dale Earnhardt Jr. barreled past Tony Stewart and won the Daytona 500 on Sunday on the same track that claimed his father's life three years ago.
Junior showed the impatience of youth, needing only five tries to win the race that bedeviled his later father for 19 years.
"He was over in the passenger side with me," Junior said during a jubilant celebration in Victory Lane. "I'm sure he was having a blast."
The victory launched the Nextel Cup era and came six years to the day that the Intimidator won his first -- and only -- Daytona 500 on his 20th try.
It's still one of the sport's most cherished scenes, the Intimidator driving down pit road while every rival crew lined up to congratulate him before he pulled into Victory Lane.
Three years later, Earnhardt was killed on a last-lap crash in the 500, depriving the sport of a seven-time champion and its most famous driver.
Well, the next generation is in good hands.
In a move that must have been borrowed from the Intimidator, Earnhardt Jr. dipped to the inside without any drafting help and went past Stewart in the trioval with 20 laps remaining.
"I can't believe I passed him by myself," Junior said. "I don't know what was going on. It was like a magic trick."
Stewart tried valiantly to catch up, briefly pulling up beside Earnhardt coming out of turn two.
But Junior showed his muscle on the backstretch, keeping Stewart in the rearview mirror of his car.
That's where Stewart stayed the rest of the way.
Earnhardt pulled away on the final lap, winning by about four car lengths while the crowd of 180,000 -- many of them wearing Junior's colors -- erupted in celebration.
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