Racebeat (04/07/03)
by Rich Romer

NASCAR Winston Cup: Dale Earnhardt Jr. narrowly avoided an early crash and charged from behind to win the Aaron's 499, becoming the first driver to win four straight races at Talladega Superspeedway. Earnhardt, who led nine times for 34 laps in a race in which there was a total of 43 lead changes among 16 drivers, fought off challenges at the end from Jimmie Johnson, Ward Burton and Matt Kenseth. He fought his way into the lead twice in the last four laps, once with a controversial pass below the yellow line on the track apron. The 28-year-old son of the late Dale Earnhardt, the career leader at Talladega with 10 Winston Cup victories, came up with his first win of the season and the eighth of his career.

Sunday's win broke the record of three in a row on the 2.66-mile oval, set in 1975 and 1976 by Buddy Baker. NASCAR requires carburetor restrictor plates at Talladega and Daytona, its two longest and fastest ovals. The plates sap horsepower and produce huge drafts up to four-cars wide in which a multi-car wreck -- sometimes called "The Big One" -- is virtually inevitable. The crowd of more than 160,000 didn't have long to wait Sunday. A deflated tire sent Ryan Newman's car into the fourth-turn wall on the fifth lap around the high-banked oval and ignited a 27-car accident in the second turn of the fifth of 188 laps. There were no injuries, but the crash took out or damaged the cars of a number of possible contenders, including Earnhardt, who started at the back of the 43-car field after his DEI team changed his engine after Saturday's final practice.

The No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet had to drive through the infield grass to avoid a worse fate, and it took his crew numerous pit stops and nearly half the race to repair the left front of the car enough to get the prerace favorite back to the front of the pack. At one point in the early going, Earnhardt had lost the lead pack and was facing the possibility of being lapped until debris on the track brought out another of the six cautions and allowed him to pit for more adjustments. Late in the race, Earnhardt got caught in traffic slid out of the top five. But he charged back, taking the lead on lap 185 with a controversial pass on Kenseth and Johnson that took him below the yellow line in Turn 1. It appeared Kenseth's Ford was moving down the banking, pinching Earnhardt toward the apron when he made the pass.

NASCAR Busch Series: Dale Earnhardt Jr. had just enough gas to wiggle across the finish line Saturday and win the Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Earnhardt, who has three consecutive Winston Cup victories at Talladega, probably did not have enough gas to win the race under a green flag. But a caution with two laps to go allowed him to slow enough to conserve fuel by pulling down on the apron and moving his car back and forth to move the gas around. That let him make it across the finish line to go 2-for-2 in Busch Series events this year. Earnhardt, who won the season-opener at Daytona, ran out of gas right after he crossed the finish line for the Aaron's 312. He needed a push from Jason Keller to make it back around the track. Although he led a race-high 60 laps, his run Saturday was not as dominating as some of his other restrictor-plate wins. He took the lead with 60 laps to go when a fuel-only stop made him the first car out of the pits. From there, Earnhardt led the lead pack of cars around and around Talladega, anxiously watching the fuel gauge on his No. 8 Chevrolet.

With 25 laps to go, his team began to worry he didn't have enough gas. Just when it looked like Earnhardt might come up a lap or two short, Chase Montgomery spun out with eight laps to go to bring out a caution flag that slowed the field -- prime conditions for conserving fuel. The field went green with four laps to go and Earnhardt got a great jump on the restart to stretch his lead over Joe Nemechek. Nemechek looked high and low several times to try a pass, but never had enough to make it by. Then Ashton Lewis' car came to a stop on the track, NASCAR threw the yellow flag, and Earnhardt simply had to stretch the gas as he followed the pace car.