Earnhardt ends victory drought

Talladega Superspeedway. On Saturday, he took his second IROC race win of the season, and followed it up with his first victory in a round of the NASCAR Winston Cup for over a year.
Earnhardt led the most laps today and advanced some six positions in the
NASCAR Winston Cup Series points standings - into the top-10 - in this '99
season that has provided fans with nothing but exciting, close racing. At
times the field was running three, four and even five-wide as drivers jockeyed
for position.

With some 14 laps remaining, Earnhardt passed leader Dale Jarrett,
bringing John Andretti with him. Jarrett charged back around Andretti,
followed by Mark Martin, but neither could mount a successful challenge on Earnhardt, who was pulling away in the clean air out front.

"Man, it was like who is going to work with who, and what is what. I was
gonna settle for second until the last lap or two and Dale Jarrett got to
jumping around, so I just stayed with it.

"I thought Michael (Waltrip) and I could do something together. It just
didn't work out. Jarrett was smart enough to run with me and he knew if he
jumped out of line at the wrong time, he'd be 3rd or worse, so he just stayed
with me."

Earnhardt's words after his IROC win yesterday proved prophetic:

"If Dale Earnhardt is finished, then why did I win today? You give me the best
piece you can give me and I can beat anybody.

"I still want to win. I still want to race."

Kevin Hamlin, crew chief for Earnhardt's Richard Childress Racing
team, provided that piece of equipment to the undisputed 'master of
restrictor-plate races' and was enjoying his first win. Earnhardt praised
Hamlin after climbing from his car and enjoying the roar of the crowd.

"What can I say. This guy (Kevin Hamlin) did a great job on this car."

The biggest incident of the afternoon occurred on Lap 48 when Mike Skinner and Rookie of the Year contender Tony Stewart made contact in the front
of the field. Skinner's car went to the grass, which was soggy from rain
over the past few days, and eventually ended up against the inside retaining
wall. As brakes were applied behind the incident, defending series champion
Jeff Gordon ended up sideways in front of Rusty Wallace and the impact sent
Gordon's car to the outside retaining wall driver-side first.

Joe Gibb's Racing teammates Bobby Labonte held onto the fourth spot with
Stewart enjoying his first top-5 finish in his young Winston Cup career. Andy
Petree Racing teammates Ken Schrader, the pole winner for this event, and
Kenny Wallace finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Jerry Nadeau, Andretti
and Bill Elliott rounded out the top-10.

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series now travels to the California Speedway in Fontana.


DieHard 500 Unofficial Race Results
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama
April 25, 1999