When he won at California, Wallace made a victory lap holding an Earnhardt flag out the window of his car. Earnhardt's never out of anybody's mind, I think about him every day. But the drivers and teams are back to racing normally and the fans are back. I carried that flag to honor him, and I'll do it again if I win another race, but things are getting back to normal. What hasn't been normal this year is the number of longshots who have won races.
Cars pop up in victory circle one time and then disappear.
Three drivers, including rookie Kevin Harvick who replaced Earnhardt, have won for the first time and two others have unexpectedly grabbed the checkered flag although one of them, Steve Park, may be ready to become a consistent contender. Primarily that's due to Goodyear's harder tire, which, while dependable, has had the usual contenders scrambling to find out what goes with it. There's been a problem understanding what the tire needs. It's definitely changed the setup. Still, when it comes to chassis setups, Wallace and Pemberton are two of the best, and if they get it figured out, Wallace just may find that second Winston Cup championship he's been looking for.