Carter welcomes back self, McMurray to Victory Lane (cont'd)

Carter and his wife, Tracy, have been married for 19 years. The first message was from her.

"She's about like I am, but this was about as excited as she has been in a while," he said. "She said, 'Nice job.' That was cool."

The next message was from Wallace.

"He said, man, I'm in the Bahamas but I was watching that race. I'm proud of ya. Great job. I'm happy for ya," Carter recalled.

Then came Sunday.

"You make a lot of sacrifices to do this job. We have a lot of young guys working here, and that's good. They don't have a family; they'll work 'til midnight if that's what it takes. I'm not like that. I've been married 19 years. We have an 11 year-old son [Benjamin].

"He thinks I'm the greatest thing in the world. I don't think I am but it's OK that he thinks I am. So we spent Sunday on the lake, riding the jet ski, having as much fun as I could possibly have. Some people might want to go to Cancun for a week. The time I can spend with my son is so important. And coming off winning a race just makes it even better. When I won before he really wasn't old enough to enjoy it. Now he watches and understands. And spending time with him is just as big as winning."

Benjamin had gone to bed before the race ended, but Tracy went and woke him up after it was over to tell him his dad had won. Sunday was the celebration.

Larry Carter was a baseball player as a kid, a first baseman, a contact hitter that, according to Carter might still hold a record or two at Garner Senior High School in North Carolina.

"In 1980, I think I had 96 at-bats and struck out maybe three times. I think that is still the record," Carter said.

I talked to Coach "Doc" Harrell; he is the athletic director at Garner. He wasn't there in 1980 and admits some of the records might be hard to find. So, for now, Carter still holds that record. But at the Garner High Web site, there is his picture, with a link to the stories of his success at Daytona. Oh, and by the way, Coach Harrell would love to hear from Carter.

Carter hides his excitement. It's just the way he is.

"I guess growing up you see lots of stuff going on. Sad people. Happy people. I like to stay on an even keel. I don't show a lot of emotion," Carter said.

But don't mistake that for a lack of intensity.

"The thing is, I'm probably my own worst enemy," he said.

"I don't like to lose. I played high-school baseball and college baseball. When we lost, I use to go behind the dugout and throw up. And that's when there are just two teams. In racing there is only one winner, and look at all the teams. It's so much tougher to win in racing when in most sports you've got a 50-50 shot at it. In racing, when you win, it's almost like a relief.

Larry Carter is still trying to return some of those voice messages from Saturday night.

"It was nice of them to call. To say the things they said. I guess you don't realize until you really get it done, that this Daytona thing is a little bigger than most," he said.

Yeah, just a little.

And for Larry Carter, just another one for the record books.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.