The Future

The crowd was hype

They had waited all day

For the sun to go down

On Daytona USA

The Pepsi 400 was about to begin

It was time for Britney Spears to yell

"Gentlemen, start your engines!"

The motors were revved

The drivers were set

Everybody knew

The green flag would be next

And they're off!

Round and round the track they would drive

Going so fast it seemed like they could fly

There was Jeff, Michael and Kevin

Dale Jarrett was there too

And even Rusty Wallace

In his trusty number 2

Now those drivers are great

And they made the fans cheer

But there's only one driver

We want to win here

The son of a legend

In the shadow of greatness

We all prayed that number 8

Would be the one to make it

And make it he did

Leading most every lap

When the checkered flag was dropped

The fans cheered and they clapped

For with the win came emotions

And so many feeling

All of our hearts were finally healing

Even though we lost a legend

A hero in our hearts

We all knew he was there

In that number 8 car

Riding along to show us all

NASCAR's new future

His son

A rising legend

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

I wrote this poem after the end lap of the Pepsi 400 on July 7, 2001.  I will never forget that race!!