| | Results
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Drafting master Dale Earnhardt outfoxed
the field at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, holding off Dale
Jarrett to win the Winston 500.
Earnhardt, who started 27th in the 43-car field, got to the
front in a hurry, roaring into the top five in just five laps
around the 2.66-mile oval.
|  | | Dale Earnhardt, with his wife Teresa, celebrates for the ninth time in Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway. Earnhardt won Sunday's Winston 500 to sweep this year's races at Talladega. |
He led only 18 of the 188 laps, but got in front for the final
time on lap 185 and was able to stay at the front of a 20-car lead
draft to the checkered flag.
With all 170,000 spectators on their feet and roaring, Earnhardt
weaved up and down the high-banked oval, somehow staying in front
of Jarrett. Earnhardt's black No. 3 Chevrolet beat Jarrett's red,
white and blue No. 88 Ford to the flagstand by .114 seconds -- about
2 car-lengths.
"I just sort of played chess with them and kept them two-by-two
behind me," said Earnhardt, who swept both Talladega races this
season and now has earned nine of his 74 career victories on the
longest and fastest oval in NASCAR.
Ricky Rudd finished third, followed by Ward Burton, Kenny
Wallace, rookie Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte.
Burton was the highest finisher among the five drivers eligible
for a $1 million bonus had they won on Sunday.
But this day belonged to crowd favorite Earnhardt, who won for
the third time this season.
"This car was good," the seven-time Winston Cup champion
added. "But I didn't think it was a car that was going to run up
front. Even late in the race, I didn't think I had the car to win
it, but (Bobby) Labonte and (teammate Mike) Skinner worked with me
there at the end and help me to the front."
Earnhardt came from farther back than any previous winner at
Talladega. The previous record was 18th by Mark Martin in 1997.
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Sunday, Oct. 17
A lot of people didn't want to concede the points championship to Dale Jarrett until after
Talladega. Sunday's race usually is such a huge hurdle for so many drivers that no one was sure what the points situation would be Sunday night.
But Jarrett finished second and in the process picked up 24 points on the field. Now, he can now almost cruise into Atlanta to pick up the Winston Cup, instead of having to race into Atlanta.
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The key moment came on lap 140 when Earnhardt drove into the
pits with a group of leaders for a regularly scheduled stop. Just
as they reached pit road, Terry Labonte's car began leaking and
smoking from a punctured oil reservoir, bringing out the last of
three caution flags.
All the drivers but Earnhardt, Bobby Labonte and Ward Burton
kept right on going through the pits and back onto the track. But
those three stopped and all three wound up finishing in the top
seven.
"I just played my cards right," the 48-year-old Earnhardt
said. "I felt the guys who stayed out would slow down and not race
to the flagstand, and I felt we could get tires, get to the
start-finish line before they came around and get track position.
"I knew we didn't have to beat them around, just to the
start-finish line to take the yellow."
The strategy worked, with Earnhardt taking the green flag on lap
146 in third, moving into the lead for the first time on lap 147
and staying in contention to the end.
Jarrett, who came into the race with a 222-point lead over Bobby
Labonte in the season standings, was far back in the pack until the
late going. But it appeared he had the strongest car over the final
80 laps.
He led for the first time on lap 114 and looked like he might be
on top for good when his Ford moved into the lead for the final
time on lap 175.
"They were running two-wide back there and I was trying to find
a way to block them all," Jarrett said. "You can't do that. Dale
Earnhardt's just the best at this kind of racing.
"I could have caused a big wreck, but we're in a championship
race."
Jarrett's second-place finish, combined with Bobby Labonte's
seventh-place finish, boosted his series lead to 246 points with
four races remaining.
Earnhardt, who won $120,290, averaged 166.632 mph in a race
slowed by just 17 laps of caution.
With the cars slowed by carburetor restrictor plates in
Talladega and Daytona in the interest of safety, the fields typically remain bunched throughout the day. That virtually guarantees at least one big wreck, and Sunday was no exception.
On lap 81, with several lines of cars racing four-wide into the
first turn, several cars bumped, igniting a five-car crash
involving Rich Bickle, Derrike Cope, Johnny Benson, John Andretti
and Jerry Nadeau. None of the drivers was injured.
Jarrett, who was still buried deep in the field at that point,
barely avoided the incident.
There were 32 leads changes among 16 drivers. Thirty-eight of
the 43 starters were running at the end, with 21 on the lead lap
and the first 20 separated by 1.994 seconds at the finish.
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 Dale Earnhardt outsmarts the field again at Talladega.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jeff Burton's crew member takes a lick from the No. 99 car.
avi: 991 k
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 Dale Earnhardt can't believe his car had enough.
wav: 279 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dale Jarrett thought he was in a position to win.
wav: 259 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Ricky Rudd had sights set on the finish line.
wav: 69 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Ward Burton said the race was very intense.
wav: 138 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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