Earnhardt Earns First Win for Hendrick

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (Ticker) - It didn't take Dale Earnhardt Jr. long to prove he made the right decision to join Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt scored a victory in his very first race for his new team, winning Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout under the lights at Daytona International Speedway.

"I don't know what took him so long to win a race for us," team owner Rick Hendrick said. "It sure takes a lot of pressure off to come down and win a race early and have a lot of fun." It was Earnhardt's first NASCAR win since the Richmond Cup race in May 2006. Nearly two years later, he is finally rid of that burden. "I never felt like I had a monkey on my back," Earnhardt said. "I've always raced with pressure and lived with tumultuous situations. It was never a golden road and easy to travel. It is what it is. "There is a lot of pressure for us but we've always delivered and I hope we continue."

Earnhardt's Chevrolet defeated Tony Stewart's Toyota by 0.138 seconds. Two of Earnhardt's teammates were next, with Jimmie Johnson's Chevrolet third followed by Jeff Gordon's Chevy and Reed Sorenson's Dodge. "Great race car, boys," Earnhardt radioed to his crew. "This might be a Daytona 500 winner." Hendrick radioed back, "Way to start our deal, baby." Earnhardt led seven times for 47 laps - the most in Bud Shootout history - to score his second career win in this race. He won at an average speed of 140.751 miles per hour and collected $215,000 for the victory. "That was fun," Earnhardt said.