By MIKE HEMBREE
The Greenville (S.C.) News

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - It was one of the most spectacular moments in the long history of the Daytona 500, the high holy ground of every stock car racer who starts on a tiny dirt track dreaming of the stars.

In the twilight laps of the 1999 race, with the result still very much in doubt, Jeff Gordon made the gutsy move of the day, dropping low in turn one and forcing his car between leader Rusty Wallace and the slower car of Ricky Rudd, who was on the apron.

There were two possible outcomes: Gordon could take the lead. Or there could be calamity in turn one.

Wallace moved over. Gordon passed. He led the last 11 laps and won the race.

This is the sort of daring that often is necessary to win in America's biggest stock car race.

"I thought I had that race won," Wallace said. "We're drafting along, and he (Gordon) gets underneath me. We have this big race going into turn one. Somebody had to get out of the gas to keep from having one hell of a wreck.

"I lost the race right there. Looking back, I should have stayed on the throttle and forced him to make some kind of maneuver."

Racing fan Lawrence Fisher of Savannah remembered watching that race on television.

"Gordon won the race right there," he said. "That's what racing is all about. You go or you don't go. He took a chance and went."

These are the sorts of decisions that define winners and losers in the 500. Racers seek the ultimate high ground in a war of nerves, one made more difficult by the uncertainties of restrictor-plate racing. It's a high-stakes, high-risk game of chess - of weaving and faking and blocking - in which one bold move can launch a career but in which one dangerous chance can have disastrous results.

"Restrictor-plate racing is so close," driver Kevin Harvick said. "When it comes down to crunch time, you've got to do what you've got to do. If I had to block to try and win the Daytona 500 and have a 50-50 chance of making it, I'd do it.

"Some of them will be mad, but I'm not here to please them. I'm here to try and win the race."

One of the dreaded dynamics about adventurous racing at Daytona is that a driver pulling out of a long drafting line with the idea of making a pass often falls victim to loneliness. If no one pulls out with him to provide drafting help, he drops like a rock.

"If you're the driver making the move and it's a daring move, then obviously there probably are not going to be a lot of people daring enough to go with you," driver Ryan Newman said. "That's what it takes. You have to have teamwork, whether it's from a teammate or another driver.

"I struggled with that last year. Late in the race, I made a move and it cost me a couple of positions. Here at the night race (in July) I made a move, couldn't pass, fell back and got hit by another car.

"So, you've got to be careful. If you're in position to win, you do everything you can. But if you're in position to get a good finish and your goal is the Winston Cup championship, you have to accept that, too."

Dale Jarrett, three times a winner of the 500, said late-race positioning and power are keys, but patience is the first priority.

"You have to know that it's a long race," he said, "and getting yourself in position for those last 50 miles is really what this is all about."