Dale Earnhardt Jr. blinked back tears as the moment socked him at Daytona International Speedway — a track bursting with triumph and tragedy for his family — that he was, with a country star and a NASCAR champ in tow,

"Where else do you go and barely make the field and cry tears of joy? Nowhere," Earnhardt said of the fabled speedway and race.

It took 20 attempts for Dale Earnhardt Sr. to win the Daytona 500. When he took the checkered flag in 1998, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion ended a winless streak that had reached 59 races.