Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 27, 1990 TAG: 9005270139
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
"Yeah, me and the guys didn't hit a one of those Florida lottery tickets the man gave us last week," Earnhardt said.
"Damn! I thought as hot as we've been lately, one of us was sure to hit."
Well, the lottery tickets have been the only losing plays for Earnhardt and his team lately.
Heading into today's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Earnhardt's Richard Childress team has won two biggies in a row - the Winston 500 on May 6 at Talladega, Ala., and The Winston last Sunday at Charlotte.
Now, Earnhardt has the broom out. He desperately wants a May sweep.
"We're hot and we're on a roll," Earnhardt said. "And know what? We feel even better about the 600.
"It's been a good month for us. Now we want to make it an even better one."
A victory today would put Earnhardt in the draft of what could be the greatest single season by a driver in NASCAR history.
If Earnhardt wins the 600, the third of NASCAR's four 1990 majors, he will have a shot at the Winston Million bonus in the Sept. 2 Heinz Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C. The $1 million bonus to awarded to any driver who can win three of stock car racing's crown jewels in a single season.
"It's really hard for me to believe that someone could win four or five races a season the way the competition is out there right now in the garage," said Earnhardt, who - counting the all-star victory in The Winston - already has racked up four victories and $793,600 in earnings in 10 starts this year.
"You go out and do it, and it's pretty satisfying the way the competition is," Earnhardt said.
Despite a poor qualifying effort - Earnhardt's Chevrolet Lumina will start 12th in the 42-car field - the three-time national champion says his car has what it takes to win NASCAR's longest race.
"We messed up qualifying. I think the driver drove a little hard into [turn] one," Earnhardt said.
"We've got the right engine combination and the car is ready to race now. It's real consistent, and I think that's what it's going to take to win - consistency, the chassis and crew on pit road. If we can hold it all together, we'll have a good shot."
Over the years, the 600-mile race hasn't been kind to Earnhardt. He has won the grueling race only once in 14 career starts.
It was Charlotte's 1.5-mile tri-oval that cost Earnhardt the title in his battle with Rusty Wallace last season. Earnhardt suffered engine woes in both races, finishing 38th in the 600 and 42nd in the October 500-mile event last year.
"Our luck hasn't been that good here," Earnhardt said.
"But you can't compare different years. I'm pumped up this year. Everybody's confidence level is really high. And we want to win. We don't like finishing second."
Unlike The Winston, in which Earnhardt started on the pole and led all 105 miles, the 600 appears to be a more wide-open affair.
The best bets to knock off Earnhardt start on the front row - Ken Schrader (Chevrolet) and Mark Martin (Ford).
Schrader, who was second to Earnhardt in The Winston and won the 600 pole with a sizzling lap of 173.963 mph, said he hasn't thrown in the towel.
"We can beat Earnhardt," he said. "If we do or not is another story. He may beat us all like he did last Sunday.
"The top 10 teams are all so close. Mark Martin can go out there and make us all look bad. We can do it. Rusty Wallace can do it. There's a bunch of 'em that can do it.
"For that to happen, they would have to be 100 percent and the rest 90 percent. Remember, this is not a 20-lap run. It's 400 laps."
But Schrader said it will be tough to derail the Earnhardt Express.
"The team gets the chassis good all the time, he has good engines and Dale drives the hell out of the car," Schrader said.
"There's not a lot of secrets there. That's what the rest of us teams are trying to do."
Other top threats in the field include Davey Allison (starting sixth), Bill Elliott (seventh), Wallace (ninth), Geoff Bodine (13th), Dick Trickle (14th), Darrell Waltrip (16th) and Morgan Shepherd (24th).
Waltrip will be shooting for a record third consecutive 600 victory. He has won the 600 a record five times.
The race takes the green flag in front of an expected crowd of 150,000 to 160,000 fans at 1 p.m.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB