Dale Earnhardt Jr. blinked back tears as the moment socked him at Daytona International Speedway — a track bursting with triumph and tragedy for his family — that he was, with a country star and a NASCAR champ in tow,

"Where else do you go and barely make the field and cry tears of joy? Nowhere," Earnhardt said of the fabled speedway and race.

There will be no agonizing wait for Jimmie Johnson to make the Daytona 500 this year. A year after a white-knuckle trip into the field through a harrowing qualifying race, the seven-time Cup Series champion had an easier time in qualifying Wednesday night for the 67th edition of the Great American Race.