Jarrett wins Budweiser Shootout.
Dale Jarrett used a final-lap pass of Kevin Harvick and a hefty push from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to win his third Budweiser Shootout Satuꦯrday night at ꧙Daytona International Speedway.
J꧂arrett's last-lap pass capped a thrilling six-lap sprint to the finish after a red-flag period stopped the action for approximately 15 minutes to repair a gate that had been damaged in a multi-car♐ crash.
Dale Jarrett used a final-lap pass of Kevin Harvick and a﷽ hefty push from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to win his third Budweiser Shootout Saturday night 🎐at Daytona International Speedway.
Jarre🐟tt's last-lap pass capped a thrilling six-lap sprint to the finish after a red-flag period stopped the action for approximately 15 minutes to repair a gate that had been damaged in a multi-car crash.
Reflecting on that pass,🐲 DJ, said: "I saw as we took off I was able to get by a few cars and I saw the outside line was really going. Once Rusty pulled down that left me out there, but I knew I had Junior behind me and I knew he was wanting to go to the൩ front so he wasn't gonna leave me. He didn't really have anywhere to go, so I just decided to stay there. I knew I could run wide open.
"The places that Junior was hitting me were the right places to really give m𒉰e that push. The young man can drive and, again, he had a fast car but we had a fast car too. It's fun to get back to Victory Lane."
Dale Jr. and the #8 Budweiser team༺ finished second, while Harvick ꧃was third.
"I did all I could to push him [Jarrett]✤ to the front," added Dale Jr. "I pushed as hard as I could, and then once he was in the lead, it was his job to hold me off. He's been a good friend t♉o me on and off the track, so if I can't win, I'm happy he could win it, and that I could help him win. You don't win these races alone, and at least I played a role, ya know?
"The top line was where it's at. If you were on the inside lane, you were really crowded with no room for error, but the outside was good. You have a lotta room to work up there. I was 🦩in the outside line at the en🐻d, but I just wasn't leading. Maybe one more lap and we coulda had him.
"There was a lot of pushing and shoving and a lot of blocking and weaving around, so it was pretty exciting out there. Some of the guys ended up in the fence, and som🌸e of them crashed their cars up a little bit. Once you weed them guys out, you could get up there and have some pretty civilized racing."
Jarrett has now won the Budweiser Shootout three times,♏ more than any driver except the late Dale Earnhardt, who won the season-opening all-star race s🎀ix times.
Dale Jr., who earned $113,000 for the second-place finish, h🦋as now finished sixth, second, first and second in four Shootout starts.