DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. vividly remembers the moment he realized he had a legitimate shot at winning NASCAR’s first Cup race at Daytona International Speedway since his father’s death at the storied track.

It was a head-spinning, stomach-turning, seat-squirming feeling at 200 mph, and it hit him right in the middle of the 2001 July race at Daytona.

“We’d led a lot and we were really fast, and I said, ‘Man,”‘ Junior recalled this week. “That was when it dawned on me that I might win, that I could win the race. Then I started getting nervous and anxiety about it. Anytime I get a glimpse of hope that something is going to go right, I start to freak out. But it all worked out.”

Indeed, it was a storybook triumph — one that remains one of the sport’s most memorable moments. Some believe it was simply too good to be true.

Junior led much of the night, but fell to seventh following a late caution flag. He took the green flag with six laps remaining, then regained the lead with moves that seemed more like a movie than real restrictor-plate racing.

Darting in and out of the pack alone — racing without the drafting help that is vital at Daytona — it took Earnhardt only a lap and a half to pass everyone in front of him.

That kind of dominance prompted skeptics to wonder if Earnhardt’s victory was somehow staged.

“That’s a bunch of crap,” said veteran driver Elliott Sadler, who finished third that night. “Us in the sport are not that stupid. NASCAR has credibility and responsibility that they have to keep up with, and I promise you, you can ask anyone in this garage what we go through week in and week out to make sure our cars are right.”

Earnhardt’s car was darn-near perfect.

It was fast all weekend, especially when the green flag dropped. He led 116 of 160 laps, not a big surprise since he was equally quick five months earlier in the Daytona 500. He finished second to Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Michael Waltrip in the season-opening race, crossing the finish line as his father wrecked behind them.

The tragedy changed the landscape of the sport, depriving stock-car racing of its biggest star and bringing safety issues to the forefront. It also focused much of the attention on Earnhardt Jr., who struggled to get comfortable in the role of fan favorite and patriarch.

Junior’s victory in NASCAR’s return to Daytona vaulted him to superstardom.

“It was one of my favorite wins,” he said. “Of course, it was at that moment I was in a really good place emotionally and personally. It had been a tough year and had been tough on a lot of people around me, a lot of my family, a lot of my close friends, a lot of my father’s close friends.

“It was a very difficult time, and I didn’t daydream early. I didn’t daydream about coming in a winning that race. I just wanted to come here and race. I just wanted to race, do my job and go to the next race. I didn’t ever see what happened coming.”