Savage » honored to represent them on and off the track. Of course, the fan

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Through rain and wrecks, on Daytonas longest day, this was a drought Dale Earnhardt Jr. was determined to end. NASCARs most popular driver won the Daytona 500 on Sunday night for the second time — a decade after his first victory — to snap a 55-race losing streak dating to 2012. The victory ended a streak of futility at Daytona International Speedway, where he finished second in three of the previous four 500s. "Winning this race is the greatest feeling that you could feel in this sport besides accepting the trophy for the championship," said Earnhardt, who climbed from his car in Victory Lane and hugged every member of his Hendrick Motorsports crew. "I didnt know if Id ever get the chance to feel it again and it feels just as good." As he crossed the finish line in his No. 88 Chevrolet, the few who withstood a rain delay of 6 hours, 22 minutes screaming their support, Earnhardt euphorically radioed his crew, saying: "This is better than the first one!" He was met by Rick Hendrick after his victory lap, and the team owner climbed into the drivers window for a ride to Victory Lane. "The world is right right now — Dale Junior just won the Daytona 500," teammate Jeff Gordon said. "Thats a sign its going to be a great season." Rain stopped the race about 45 minutes after it began for a delay of more than six hours. When it resumed, Earnhardt dominated at the track where his father was killed in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 race. He led six times for a race-high 54 laps — all after the rain delay — and seemed to have it under control until things got chaotic near the end. There were 42 lead changes and four multi-car accidents as the field closed in on the checkered flag. An accident with seven laps to go triggered by pole-sitter Austin Dillon, driving the No. 3 — Earnhardts fathers number making its return to the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2001 — set up a final two-lap shootout to the finish. Earnhardt got a great jump past Brad Keselowski on the restart, and had Gordon behind him protecting his bumper. But Denny Hamlin came charging through the field and Earnhardt suddenly had a challenger with one lap to go. Then an accident farther back involving former winners Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray brought out the caution and the win belonged to Earnhardt. "We could fight off battle after battle. We got a little help at the end there from Jeff to get away on the restart," Earnhardt said. "This is amazing. I cant believe this is happening. I never take this for granted, man because it doesnt happen twice, let alone once." Hamlin was second in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by Keselowski in a Team Penske Ford. Hendrick took fourth and fifth with Gordon and last years race winner, Jimmie Johnson, in what quickly became a company-wide celebration. "Hes been knocking on the door of the 500 for a lot of years. He got it done tonight — did an awesome job," said Johnson, who beat Earnhardt to the finish line a year ago. The win means Hendrick already has one of his four drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Under the new win-and-get-in format announced last month, Earnhardt is now eligible to race for the title and can spend the next 25 races preparing for the post-season. "We might be in the Chase — I aint going to worry about that," Earnhardt said from Victory Lane. "Trust me, man, were going to have a blast this year." Rain wreaked havoc on the event for the third time in six years, and this years race was stopped after 38 laps as a strong storm blew into the area. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning in the area and advised people to take shelter, and fans fled from the grandstands. NASCAR rolled out the track drying system Air Titan for several failed attempts over the delay. It was the only on-track activity for more than six hours, but there was plenty of behind-the-scenes fun as drivers desperately tried to stay entertained. David Ragan made a pizza run in his firesuit, Hamlin played basketball, Clint Bowyer answered fans questions on Twitter and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.s crew practiced tornado drills. It hit absurd levels as Fox Sports tried to fill the air time with a replay of the 2013 race that hundreds of thousands did not understand wasnt a live broadcast. Social media exploded with congratulatory tweets for last years winner, Johnson, who posted on his account: "I hear I won the #Daytona500? Haha! I also have friends confused and texting congratulations to me." Fellow drivers had fun with the widespread error, too. "Wait a minute! Im confused, did @JimmieJohnson win or not?" Bowyer tweeted. Plenty of fans on Twitter were confused throughout the replay, tweeting along as if the race was live. Deadspin ran some of them under the headline, "Scores Of Idiots Dont Realize Fox Is Airing Last Years Daytona 500." Even NASCAR couldnt resist jokingly weighing in on the confusion. "Congrats @JimmieJohnson amazing," tweeted Steve ODonnell, NASCARs senior vice-president of racing operations. Piling onto the strange story line, Foxs rain-delayed coverage was sponsored by the movie "Noah," which opens March 28 and stars Russell Crowe as the title character who builds an arc to save creation from a massive flood. When the cars finally got back on track, Earnhardt took off. He had some challenges, particularly from the Roush Fenway Racing duo of Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, but he managed to break free every time it mattered. Air Max 97 Ireland Cheap . Petersburg of the KHL. Belov was a free agent last summer when he signed a one-year contract with the Oilers. In 57 games this season he had one goal and six assists with 34 penalty minutes in Edmonton. Air Max 97 Ireland . -- Chris Tillman paid no attention to the Baltimore bullpen as it started to stir in the ninth inning. http://www.airmax97cheapireland.com/ . Louis Cardinals a hard-fought victory. The Colorado Rockies intentionally walked Yadier Molina with one out and runners on first and third to load the bases for Kozma. Cheap Air Max 97 Ireland . -- The Chicago Bears have agreed to terms with safety Brock Vereen and QB David Fales on four-year contracts. Cheap Air Max 97 Wholesale . "Youre not really spending time to sit back and analyze what your competitions doing and things like that," Anthopoulos said. "Youre so focused on what were trying to get done." Ultimately, while the landscape around them changed with trades both major and minor, the Blue Jays did nothing before Thursdays non-waiver deadline.Concord, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Hendrick Motorsports revealed on Thursday that Chase Elliott will take over driving duties of the No. 24 Chevrolet full- time in the Sprint Cup Series, starting with the 2016 season. Last week, Jeff Gordon announced that 2015 will be his last season competing for a championship in NASCARs premier series. Gordon, a four-time series champion, has driven the No. 24 car for team owner Rick Hendrick since November 1992. Elliott is the son of Bill Elliott, who is scheduled to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Friday. The 19-year-old Elliott won the championship in the Xfinity Series (formerly known as the Nationwide Series) last year, doing so in his rookie season as driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. He became the youngest driver ever to win a title in one of NASCARs three national touring series. Hendrick announced the news of Elliott driving the No. 24 next year during the teams season kickoff employee event on Thursday morning. Chase brings the kind of intangibles that make him the total package as a driver, Hendrick said. Not only is he a special talent inside the race car, but theres a natural combination of competitiveness, work ethic and smarts that you rarely see. Chases personality and demeanor make him popular with fans, teammates and sponsors. Hes a great fit for our organization on many levels, and we feel he and Alan will be a successful combination. Theres a lot to be excited about. Since Gordon had made his announcement of his future plans, it had been widely rumored that Elliott would replace him in the No. 24 at the conclusion of this season. Elliott is scheduled to make his Sprint Cup debut in late March at Martinsville, driving the No. 25 Chevrolet for Hendrick. He is also slated for the Sprint Cup races at Richmond (April), Charlotte (May), Indianapolis (July) and Darlington (September). Elliott will bee paired with veteran crew chief Kenny Francis for the five-race schedule this season.dddddddddddd So many people have been behind me, and the first thing I want to do is thank them, said Elliott, who will run the full 2015 Xfinity Series schedule as the defending champion. My parents (Bill and Cindy Elliott) especially have believed in me every step of the way, and I know this wouldnt be possible without all the sacrifices theyve made to focus on my racing career. This is such a big week for our family. Im also extremely grateful to Mr. Hendrick and my teammates at both Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports for believing in me. NAPA has been a huge supporter, and Im honored to represent them on and off the track. Of course, the fans have been amazing to me, and Im so appreciative of that. I know how rare this opportunity is and will work as hard as I can to make everyone proud. Alan Gustafson will be paired with Gordons current crew chief, Alan Gustafson, for next season. Sponsorship for the No.24 team in 16 will be announced at a later date. Since his Cup debut in the 92 season-ending race at Atlanta, Gordon has made 761 consecutive and career starts. His 92 career victories places him third on the series all-time race winners list, behind only Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105). Among those race wins include three in the Daytona 500 and a record five in the Brickyard 400. Gordon also holds the record for most victories on road courses with nine. His Cup championships occurred in 1995, 97, 98 and 2001. Gordon had one of his best seasons since his most recent championship in 01. He won four races, including the Brickyard 400, and had a series-high 23 top-10 finishes. Gordon came up one point short of advancing into the final four for the Nov. 16 championship race at Homestead. He finished sixth in the point standings. ' ' '