The Underdog 500? Well, probably not really, but it's nice to dream

  By Mike Mulhern
  mikemulhern.net

  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
  You want to root for an underdog?
  You're still inspired by the Alan Kulwicki story, even now 15 years on?
  You want to believe in miracles?
  Well, this Daytona 500….and this California 500…and Las Vegas 400…and Atlanta 500, keep your eyes wide open.
  Now the odds on Jeremy Mayfield or Scott Riggs and Tommy Baldwin, or any of this handful of NASCAR underdogs actually upsetting the stock car tour's Big Four operations – Hendrick, Roush, Childress and Gibbs – in any of this season's 36 Sprint Cup tour events are pretty long, to say the least.
   Taking a $3 million racing budget and a dozen men and competing head-to-head with operations that can pour $30 million a year into a team and throw hundreds of crewmen at the game…..
   Well, you get the picture.
   But this is America.
   And this is NASCAR – where Richard Childress made it, turning a one-car, two-man team into an empire, where Alan Kulwicki, on a shoestring budget of $1.8 million up against powerhouse teams with three times as big a budget, made it.
   Yes, Bill Elliott tried and failed as an owner-driver, and so did Ricky Rudd and Darrell Waltrip and a lot of others.
   So this year's crop of underdogs realizes what lies ahead.
   But, hey, why mope?
   Try something.

   For Riggs, down on his luck and out of a job, and new boss Baldwin, likewise, just making the 500 is a triumph.
   "Man, we're elated," a clearly jubilant Riggs says. "This is grass roots right now for us -- The shop, it's a lot of guys who are just volunteers…but passionate about racing.
   "To be able to scrap something together from nothing a month and a half ago to this, to be able to put something together, come here, run good, be pretty strong in the pack, get ourselves in the race, it speaks volumes.
    "I don't think anyone has any high expectations for us.  We want to under promise and over deliver. 
    "With Tommy's ability, and his experience….
    "It was tough last year for me.  This year will probably even be tougher.
    "But it's more rewarding on a day like this, when you come out showing your strength, showing what you can do, with the people that work so hard."
   And Sunday's 500?
   No illusions.
   "Coming down here, the first thing we wanted was to qualify in on time…and we didn't do that," Riggs says. 
    "The next thing we wanted was to make sure our car drove well, and we were fast enough to race our way in.
    "Now we're into tomorrow….
   "I think we can come to the track every single week now and show speed, show strength….
    "It's definitely rewarding to have, well I'm not going to say a rag tag team, but to have guys who are there because of their love for the sport, and faith in Tommy and each other.
   "I hope we've earned some respect. Hopefully we can get a little more help Sunday when it comes time to really get paid."
   Riggs concedes it's "a shoestring budget, with no major sponsors," and it will be a challenge "to see if we can make all the races.
    "But it's fun fighting that good fight with Tommy. He is so strong, so confident, always positive, always thinking forward about what we need to do next."