TonyTimes: Tears of Joy: Newman Wins the Daytona 500

Who would've thought that Sunday -- the running of the 50th Annual Daytona 500 -- would've probably been one of the most exciting times of my life?

People will probably think that I'm a little psycho regarding that I'm holding the winner of this year's Daytona 500 in high regard. It's just that the driver of the #12 alltel wireless Dodge Charger, Ryan Newman, finally pulled off the victory-of-victories at Daytona.

It's been long documented of my fan-dom of Newman since 2003, coming off his Rookie of the Year season of 2002. It was a good year to become a fan of Newman's since he ripped off 8 wins that season, 2 wins in 2004, and 1 more in 2005. Then, nothing.

The team was doomed to mediocrity. Despite successful runs in the Busch Grand National Series in 2006 with crew chief Roy McCauley (winning 6 out of the 9 races he entered), his Cup crew chief Matt Borland left the Penske organization and I immediately thought that he was going to be let go. It's just the way the industry works -- things were not falling into place with the alltel team and I myself was beginning to lose all hope.

Sure, people have their favorite drivers, like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, or Tony Stewart; but I was determined to pick up on a guy like Newman and become loyal to him and his team. That's just the way NASCAR works. Newman isn't flashy, isn't the biggest fan favorite, but the guy is simply a "down-to-earth" fella, somebody who could be considered to be a role model.

My own viewership of NASCAR waned during the later part of the 2007 season, since Newman didn't make the "Chase for the Cup." With Speedweeks going in full-force prior to Daytona this year, no mention was made of the Dodge teams, such as Penske Racing, to be a factor in the 500.

Newman had a respectable starting position in the Daytona 500, starting 7th. The Penske "plate" program was finally starting to show (Newman's teammate Kurt Busch had strong runs in the past) and I was expecting a Top 10 finish for Ryan.

He slipped back early in the race due to an ill handling car, while most of the race was made of the Joe Gibbs Toyotas of Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch. To be honest, the first 150 laps were damn boring. The "new" cars were so strung out and it didn't take until after the sun set that cars were beginning to form their typical "packs" to create some exciting racing.

And wouldn't you know it, Newman was making his way up through the field. Caution flag after caution flag flew through the air until the final restart with 3 laps to go. Jeff Burton took the green flag, but was quickly shuffled back through the field. Tony Stewart, along with teammate Kyle Busch made strong re-starts, but all the while, Newman snuck up on Stewart's rear bumper and didn't let go.

The final laps were a chess match: one car could've easily wrecked and took out most of the field, but everybody stayed in line. When the white flag waved (one lap to go), Stewart had the lead with Newman and Kurt Busch directly behind. The backstretch run was one for the ages, as Stewart decided to take the inside lane to attempt to hook up with teammate Kyle Busch, but Newman stayed high and his teammate Kurt Busch locked together in drafting bliss and the Miller Lite Dodge Charger pushed his teammate ahead of Stewart and into Turns 3 & 4.

I, for one, was off the couch and positioned myself hunched over in the front of the television. I just couldn't believe what I was experiencing ... Newman in the lead in the biggest race of the year.

I still remember Newman's last win, his 12th of his career -- at New Hampshire in September of 2005. Newman overtook Stewart on the last lap, last turn for the win. 81 races later, the blue-and-white alltel Dodge Charger was leading a pack of cars towards the gold-and-white finish line at Daytona. Teammate Kurt Busch followed, giving the "Captain" Roger Penske a one-two finish and his first Daytona 500 win. Simply unreal.

I couldn't help but get slightly emotional after seeing that. I wasn't gushing or anything, but there were a few tears welling up in my eyes. Maybe it was all the beer that I had consumed during the race, but who knows -- I was just so damn happy and proud that my driver ... my boy since his horrific wreck during the 2003 Daytona 500 won the race of races.

Arms in the air, trembling all over, probably jumping up and down, just feeling like I was there with the rest of the alltel crew. I was receiving text messages, phone calls, messages on my wall on Facebook, the whole ten yards ... and everyone of my friends congratulated me like I was the guy driving the car.