Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 24, 1994 TAG: 9410280006
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED HARDIN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Long
Dale Earnhardt, who once sold everything he had so he could drive in one more auto race, reached the pinnacle of the sport Sunday by winning the AC Delco 500 and clinching his seventh NASCAR Winston Cup points championship at the track he once couldn't afford to enter.
Earnhardt joined Richard Petty as the only seven-time winners of the coveted title. And he wondered aloud what his late father must have been thinking Sunday when Earnhardt crossed the finish line just ahead of Rick Mast.
``I never thought I'd win one [title],'' Earnhardt said. ``You start out in racing, and your dad is your idol. You really grow up racing with your dad.''
Earnhardt grew up in Ralph Earnhardt's shop, later racing against Petty and David Pearson and Neil Bonnett, who became his best friend. He dedicated Sunday's win to Bonnett, who was killed in a practice crash at Daytona this year, the first race of the season.
And he paid homage to Petty, who watched from the infield as Earnhardt reached a level once thought unapproachable.
``Richard Petty is still `The King,' and he'll always be `The King,''' Earnhardt said. ``I'm a seven-time champion.''
Earnhardt's slow ascension started on small tracks around North Carolina, particularly at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, where he sometimes had to slip out of the back door of the raceway to avoid debtors coming in the front door. On Sunday, many of the friends and debtors from those those days were watching as Earnhardt came from back in the pack to stun the field.
He needed to finish only 28th in each of the final three races to clinch the title. Almost no one thought much of his chances to clinch on Sunday. When Rusty Wallace, his nearest challenger for the title, dropped out just past the midway point, Earnhardt started his slow move to the front. He took the lead for good on lap 416 and held off Mast's badly damaged car to win his fourth race of the season and his first since May.
Mast, from Rockbridge Baths, Va., dominated early but lost his edge on lap 86 when he slammed into Greg Sacks in the second turn, sending both to the garage for repairs. Mast was able to stay out, but his car was never quite the same.
``We never did get it back like it was,'' Mast said. ``I drove over there and tore the car up. That was ridiculous.''
Earnhardt waited for many of the other leaders to use up their cars before making his late charge, so reminiscent of the charges Petty made during his long career.
``We race every race with the championship in mind,'' Earnhardt said.
He was not told when Wallace dropped out with engine troubles.
``I had no idea,'' Earnhardt said. ``They said the [No.]2 car had gone behind the wall, and they didn't say no more about it till the end when they said I'd won the championship.''
But Earnhardt knew. As he dueled with Mast on the last lap, he came off the gas.
``I eased up on that last corner - not to make a mistake,'' Earnhardt said. ``He about got by me.''
The margin of victory was less than two car-lengths, six-hundredths of a second.
With his second consecutive Winston Cup points title in hand, the subject of a third came up.
No one doubts he will get it.
The points chase is made for Earnhardt and his GM Goodwrench team. Or maybe it's the other way around.
Until another format is introduced to crown Winston Cup champions, Earnhardt always will be favored. And even then, it's hard to figure out a format in which he wouldn't be favored.
Earnhardt learned from watching Petty in a career that spanned five decades. Earnhardt is in his third decade, and he has plans to race for some time to come.
``I think we've got 10 more good years,'' he said in 1993 after winning his sixth title. ``If we don't mess up or get hurt or something, I think we'll win a few more of these.''
The title chase calls for consistency and aggressiveness, traits Earnhardt seems to have learned from all those he watched while growing up in Kannapolis.
``People say I'm from the old school,'' Earnhardt said. ```He's aggressive. He races harder than he should sometimes.' But I learned from the guys who raced like that. I drive a race car 100 percent every race. That's what I intend to do when I retire.''
He has won more titles than the rest of the active Winston Cup competitors combined. His dominance outlasted Darrell Waltrip, who has won three, and has spanned the titles of Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott and Wallace, the only other active drivers with a title.
``He's consistent,'' Wallace said. ``That's what's so good about Earnhardt. They don't tear anything up.''
But there's more to it, Earnhardt insisted.
``People talk about the points structure,'' he said. ``We worked at winning the championship every race. You're in the Busch Clash, you win those. We've won the most of those. You're in The Winston, you try to win those. We've won most of those.
``Whichever race you're in you've got to race it accordingly. I'm not saying we stroke, but we race Winston Cup races one at a time.''
And more times than not, Dale Earnhardt is the one to beat. No one sees that changing for quite some time.
No matter how they keep score.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB