Earnhardt Jr. Dominates Winn-Dixie 250 presented by PepsiCo

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., -- There was no catching Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Friday's Winn-Dixie 250 presented by PepsiCo NASCAR Busch Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt, driving the No. 8 Menards/Johns Manville Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., took the lead on Lap 16 and lead the final 88 laps of the 100-lap, 250-mile event on his way to his 10th career victory at "The World Center of Racing."

Brian Vickers and Kevin Harvick tried to mount a challenge for Earnhardt Jr. in the final green-white-checkered restart but settled for second and third-place honors.

Earnhardt Jr. treated the fans in the grandstands to a burn out that was so strong he wasn't able to wheel his car into Gatorade Victory Lane.

"I broke the transmission," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I was shifting on my burn-out and I was trying to get to fourth (gear). I had a great car. It stuck in-gear or else we'd be pushing it to Victory Lane. That was pretty awesome. I had such a good car. There at the end the competition got better."

Rounding out the top five were J.J. Yeley and Carl Edwards.

For Earnhardt Jr., his Winn-Dixie 250 victory was his 21st in the NASCAR Busch Series, which ties him with his father Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant for seventh on the all-time Busch Series win list.

"That's awesome," said Earnhardt Jr. when told of the milestone. "Tying my dad in anything is awesome to me."