How The Pepsi 400 Was Fixed...Not What You Think!!
by Ron Felix


If you were expecting to see what I might have to say about how Gary Nelson or Mike Helton or anyone else connected with NASCAR, rigged the Pepsi 400 Saturday night at Daytona, well then obviously you've come to the wrong place.

Even if NASCAR wanted to fix a race, can you imagine the amount of people that would have to be involved in the cover-up to pull it off and then keep their mouths shut the rest of their lives.

The Pepsi 400 was fixed, but not like the conspiracy theorist are saying.

When Dale Earnhardt joined his friend Neil Bonnett on February 18th of this year, Bonnett met him at the pearly gates. Bonnett had the run of the place but without Dale, he was getting bored. Yes, he occasionally hung out with the likes of J.D. McDuffie, Davey Allison, Kenny Irwin, Adam Petty, Tony Roper and sometimes even with that open wheel guy, Greg Moore, but his old fishing and hunting buddy was here now and Bonnett was content.

Dale mentioned to Neil that he may have left his earthly bonds too soon. He sure would have like to have seen his son Dale Jr. win a race at Daytona, the track where he had so much success.

Dale Jr., had won two Winston Cup races and one "Winston" All-Star race, and they celebrated mightily, but something, he knew would be missing from Dale Jr.'s life without a win at Daytona.

He also had learned in the short five months that he had powers and enjoyed using them by helping Michael Waltrip win his first Winston Cup race and the Daytona 500 at that. Then there was the race at Atlanta when his old friend Richard Childress asked for his help and Dale jumped into the car and drove it home for Kevin Harvick. That was a tough one. Harder that he expected and barely nipped Jeff Gordon at the line for the win.

Then there was Steve Park's win at Rockingham, well, you get the picture.

But Dale wanted to insure a win for Dale Jr. and to make sure that it happened, he enlisted Neil Bonnett's help. Bonnett wasn't sure that even with the two of them working on it, that they would be able to pull it off. Bonnett suggested they talk to God and see if he would be willing to help.

Being a longtime racefan and especially a Dale Earnhardt fan, God agreed to help with the project and God, Bonnett and Earnhardt set out with a plan to make sure it happened.

God set in motion a set of rules for Dale Jr.'s crew chief to follow and made him clever enough to build a car that would handle just right at Daytona and smart eonigh to call some great pit stratagies. Next he made his engine builder wise enough to build an engine that would out-power the rest of the cars.

Bonnett suggested that in addition to the clever crew chief and wise engine builder, that God maybe put it into the minds of his competitors that everything would be OK in the world if Dale Earnhardt Jr. were allowed to win this race and so he did.

God, Bonnett and Earnhardt could see a plan coming together the way it should and for insurance, decided that no cars should get near Dale Jr. during the race and parted the seas for him, so to speak.

The plan worked perfectly and eleven years to the day that the old man won his first Pepsi 400 at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr. crossed the finish line first with Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Neil Bonnett and the hand of God pushing the Chevrolet Monte Carlo to victory.

That's how the Pepsi 400 was fixed. All is well again.