DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Rudy Giuliani sped across the finish line in Florida on Monday.

He didn't get the checkered flag he really wanted -- victory in the Jan. 29 Republican primary -- but had a great time all the same.

Giuliani's campaign bus took a detour from its two-day, eight-stop tour of Florida for a visit to the Daytona International Speedway. Aides assembled the press traveling with him in the grassy infield, setting up the camera shot they wanted - pictures of his giant "Florida is Rudy Country" bus tearing around the track and across the black-and-white finish line.

The big coach roared past the media pack, not at race speeds but fast enough to keep from tipping over on the banked track. Giuliani grinned in the front passenger seat.

No one was in the stands, though Giuliani -- clad in his typical suit and tie -- did mingle with a couple of dozen drivers and crew members.

Not much help for his campaign in Florida, where he is fighting for political survival. Nearly all the race folks were from out of state, here testing for the upcoming Camping World 300 race, according to Eddie D'Hondt, a 21-year-old crew member from Charlotte, N.C. D'Hondt plans to vote for Giuliani, but North Carolina's primary isn't until May 6.

So was it time well spent? Giuliani clearly thought so.

"We're changing the schedule -- we're going to drive around all day," he said as he walked among the stock cars and their keepers. He said it only added to the fun he had in the morning, which the longtime New York Yankees fan spent with outfielder Johnny Damon, who endorsed Giuliani at a small Orlando rally, and Sunday, when actor Jon Voight rode his bus for a day.

Giuliani said one thing he's learned while campaigning is that "NASCAR is a great sport." Daytona is a common stop for politicians, a way to appeal to stock car fans.

He responded cheerfully when asked if his one lonely lap around the track was a symbol for his campaign.

"I think it's a symbolism of our lapping Florida. We're lapping around Florida -- and we want to lap our opponents if we can," he said.