Daytona Statement

The hot NASCAR stories of the past few weeks have been Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s contract situation and the teams that got caught cheating prior to the running of Sunday's Daytona 500. Below those headlines was Tony Stewart. The "man on a mission" after missing the Chase for the Nextel Cup. All signs and analysts pointed to Stewart making a big statement in the 500. He made a statement, but it was made to t.v. cameras following his crash that landed him a 43rd place finish. Flying under the radar all week, however, were the Richard Childress Racing teams. All the talk was about Tony Stewart's inevitable victory after his Bud Shootout and Gatorade Duel 150 wins. When it was all on the line and the season had officially started, the RCR cars rose to the occasion. Kevin Harvick (29) claimed his first Daytona 500 victory over Mark Martin (01) by the slimmest of margins. Jeff Burton took advantage of the last lap crash that took out Kyle Busch (5), Matt Kenseth (17) and others to finish 3rd. The third car in the RCR stable driven by Clint Bowyer (07) finished 18th after sliding across the finish line on his roof. At the time of the crash Bowyer was running near the top-10.

It was RCR's second Daytona 500 win. The first came in 1998 with Dale Earnhardt behind the wheel of the #3 Goodwrench Chevrolet. Harvick also won the Busch Series race on Saturday afternoon to become only the fourth driver to sweep both the Daytona 300 and 500.

So, a statement was made this weekend. But, it wasn't by Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson as most of us thought it would be. It was the RCR cars, most notably Harvick. He had been 0 for his life at Daytona until this weekend. He and his Childress teammates let it be clearly known that last season's resurgence was no fluke and that this year should be a lot better than last.

Could Harvick, Burton or Bowyer win the Nextel Cup? Yeah, they each have the talent and equipment available to do so. I picked Carl Edwards and I will stand by that. However, it would not surprise me to see an RCR car hoisting the cup in Homestead this November.

They may not win it all this year at the Welcome, N.C. based organization. They did make the rest of NASCAR and its fans stand up and take notice. The RoushFenway, Hendrick and Joe Gibbs dominated decade has come to an end. RCR is poised to reclaim the glory it enjoyed with the Intimidator at the forefront of its racing operation. The Kevin Harvick Champion Chardonnay 2007 from Childress' vineyards has a snazzy ring to it.