Monday, Feb. 21, 2005 | 9:01 a.m.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Could this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship?
Prior to the start of Sunday's Daytona 500, Kurt Busch promised Jeff Gordon that he would work with him should the two drivers be in a position in the closing stages of the race. It was a peace offering, of sorts, after Busch had ruffled Gordon's feathers by bumping him during their 150-mile qualifying race three days earlier at Daytona International Speedway.
"Kurt Busch and I had a little run-in in the 150 and I was a little concerned with that," Gordon said. "We talked right before the race ... and he said 'Hey, sorry about what happened the other day, didn't mean to do it,' and I said let's just go out there and work together today and get ourselves up front and race for a win.
"It's funny that we talked like that because it's kind of the way things worked out."
Gordon had his hands full holding off a hard-charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the closing laps of Sunday's race but received an assist from Busch on a green-white-checkered restart that allowed Gordon to win his third Daytona 500.
"I want to thank Kurt Busch," Gordon said after earning his 70th career NASCAR Cup victory in the "Great American Race."
Gordon was referring to Busch's pass of Earnhardt on the final restart of the race that kept a car between Gordon and what he said was the strongest car in the field -- Earnhardt's No. 8 Chevrolet -- and forced the three cars behind Busch to race for position.
"That was the best thing that could have happened to me," Gordon added. "There were times that that No. 8 car was so fast that you can't keep him behind you. Kurt and I worked well together all day long and I kind of knew how we stacked up with one another. He had a strong car; I just did everything I could to stay in front of him.
"I was looking in my mirror more than I was looking at what was going on ahead of me. I was doing everything I knew to hold those guys off. When I saw (Jimmie Johnson) and (Earnhardt) racing side by side back there, I knew there was nothing (Busch) could do without a push from behind and I knew we had it."
Busch, a Las Vegas native, also knew he had no chance of overtaking Gordon in the final two laps once Earnhardt, Johnson and Scott Riggs began fanning out behind him on the final lap.
"With a green-white-checker restart at Daytona, you always look for where anybody isn't out on the racetrack," Busch, the reigning Nextel Cup champion, said. "They left the yellow line open (on the bottom of the track) and Riggs pushed me (into second place). He was going to go by me if I didn't block him. I blocked him and he pushed me by (Johnson and Earnhardt).
"But when I broke away from (Riggs), I knew I wasn't going to pass (Gordon). I wouldn't have cleared him coming off of turn four -- it would have probably been three-wide, four-wide and there probably would have been a six-car pileup at the start/finish line and I wouldn't have ended up in the position that we were in."
It was Busch's second runner-up finish in five career Daytona 500 starts. Earnhardt, who won last year's season-opening race, finished third, Riggs took fourth and Johnson was fifth.
Three late caution periods led to four lead changes in the final nine laps as Tony Stewart and Earnhardt took turns leading until Gordon went out front for good on lap 198. Stewart, who led a race-high 107 laps, finished seventh.
After Earnhardt struggled with an ill-handling car for much of the race and was not a factor until the final 20 laps, Gordon said he was nervous when he saw Earnhardt battling for the lead late in the race.
"When that 8 car got that lead, I thought it was over -- done," Gordon said. "I knew we had a good car, but I had no idea we'd ever get up there even beside him, let alone pass him. Jimmie Johnson gave me a big shove down the front straightaway and I had a lot of momentum.
"I was shocked that I not only got up beside him, but I passed him."
Considering that he didn't have a contending car to start the race, Earnhardt said he wasn't too disappointed with his third-place finish.
"The car wasn't that good in the race," Earnhardt said. "We made some adjustments and then I could drive it right up in there and I got the lead there with a couple of laps to go. I had enough room to pull up in front of Gordon in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 and hold him back there, but I didn't know if I had him cleared or not and he came on back by me on the straightaway.
"We had a good car. I don't know if it was a third-place car, but it was good."
So was Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet, which has carried him to four series championships, three Daytona 500 wins and 70 career victories in 12 seasons with Hendrick Motorsports. But Gordon said he prefers to let others ponder his place in American auto racing history.
"I try not to put too much emphasis on (accomplishments) right now because I don't want to focus on that; I want to focus on wins and this team and give them my best effort that I can week in and week out and do what we can to win the championship," he said.
"It's unbelievable to know that since I met (team owner Rick Hendrick) in May of 1992, it's been one incredible ride -- and who would have ever thought that we would have racked up the things that we have? I'm just fortunate to be at this organization and to have had the success that we've had. I don't want to stop any time soon."
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