Dale Sr changes tune on superspeedway racing

Despite being the most successful exponent of the power-sapping carburettor restrictor plates, which were brought in to keep speeds below 200mph, Earnhardt has consistently called for a return to higher speeds and an end to the processional racing they have caused. But after a Shootout which saw 20 lead changes in just 70 laps of racing, the Intimidator, who finished runner-up, appears to be appeased.

"I think you saw a better race today," said Earnhardt, "and that's what it's all about. You know, NASCAR works hard to try and make the cars competitive side-by-side when they're racing, and I think that's what they've done.

"Last year, you know when I got out of the car after the Daytona 500 and I was pretty torn up about how the race went, I made the comment that [NASCAR founder] Bill France Sr was probably turning over in his grave about that kind of racing. Well, I'd say he'd be jumping up and down this year about this kind of racing."

The new aero package, which was used for the first time at last autumn's Talladega race, consists of a turbulence-creating roof strip and a higher rear spoiler. Run in conjunction with a slightly relaxed restrictor plate, the package is designed to give back throttle response and make a car punch a bigger hole in the air, allowing easier overtaking. At Talladega, the race broke NASCAR's all-time record for overtaking, but the downside at Daytona is that qualifying speeds for the 'Great American Race' are the slowest since 1971.

But as well as praising the new rules, Earnhardt posted a warning that drivers should calm down during the remainder of Speedweeks.

"When we have trouble is when people don't use their heads - they aren't patient," he said. "You look at the back and front of some of the cars after the Shootout and it looks more like we've just finished up at the Martinsville short-track than a superspeedway. A lot of guys - me included - were bump drafting, pushing the car ahead down the straights. But we've got to be careful."

Rusty Wallace, the 1989 Winston Cup Champion, added that the narrower Daytona track should be treated with more respect than the wide lanes of Talladega.

"The Shootout was a lot less nerve-wracking than Talladega," he said, "and it appears that the rules have worked. But we've got to be so careful if we go three-abreast here. That's acceptable at Talladega, but it simply isn't wide enough at Daytona. You maybe don't think it, but Daytona's a tight ol' track to race on."