Martin Truex Jr. celebrates his first career Daytona victory. Credit: Autostock

Truex Jr. hangs on for Daytona victory

Series leader pads advantage with fourth win of season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having more success as a car owner than a driver this season.

Credit: Autostock

Results Winn-Dixie 250 Pos. Driver Make 1. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 2. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 3. Greg Biffle Ford 4. Kenny Wallace Ford 5. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Complete results, click here Standings, click here Victory LaneMartin Truex Jr. celebrates his win at Daytona Final lapsTruex Jr. races to the checkers Top finishersBiffle and Harvick on their Daytona finishes Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Martin Truex Jr., driving a car partially owned by Earnhardt, passed Kevin Harvick with four laps remaining and held on after a late restart to win the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night.

``As long as I was leading, I was in good shape,'' Truex said.

The reigning Busch Series champion got his first Daytona win and extended his lead in the series standings to 71 points over Clint Bowyer. Reed Sorenson finished 20th and dropped to third in the standings.

Truex took over the top spot last week with a second consecutive runner-up finish, and he carried that momentum to Daytona. He led a race-high 67 laps in his Chevrolet and won for the fourth time this season.

Nextel Cup points leader Greg Biffle was third, followed by Kenny Wallace and Bowyer.

Earnhardt, who has no victories in the Nextel Cup Series this season and is a disappointing 18th in points, ran second behind Truex for much of the night before blowing an engine with 21 laps remaining.

It was another setback in a season filled with them for NASCAR's most popular driver. In fact, Truex's success has been one of the few highlights for Earnhardt.

Truex could have used Earnhardt's help near the end of Friday night's race. The 25-year-old New Jersey native had the lead following a restart with eight laps to go, but he quickly got shuffled behind Harvick and Biffle.

Truex made several runs at them on the outside before finally getting to the front. But just as he took the lead, a 13-car accident -- started when Randy LaJoie ran into Jon Wood -- turned the 100-lap race into a shootout with three laps to go.

The race was red-flagged for nearly 28 minutes while officials repaired a portion of the wall. After the delay, Truex blocked a strong attempt from Harvick to retake the lead and stayed in front the rest of the way. Paul Menard, Joe Nemechek, Mike Wallace, Jason Leffler and Tony Raines rounded out the top 10.