Jr Wins 4th Straight
At Talladega.
Talladega, AL: When the "Big One" happened on the 4th lap of the Aaron's 499, a total of 27 cars were damaged. Dale Earnhardt, Jr in the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet was among those cars, but his crew was able to make the necessary repairs and put Jr back on the track without losing a lap. He then beat and banged and fought his way to the front to win. It was the 4th straight Winston Cup race Jr had won at this track. He broke the previous record of 3 held by Buddy Baker. Buddy was at the track during the race, spotting for Ryan Newman in the #12 Alltel Dodge. Jr also won the Busch race on Saturday, making it a weekend sweep.
Though most of the race was fairly uneventful after the 4th lap wreck, the final 17 laps became interesting as drivers jockeyed for position. Four of the Hendrick's cars made a hard push to the front, but Jimmie Johnson in the #48 Lowes Chevrolet slid back, then spun around, eventually finishing 15th in the race. Terry Labonte was strong in the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet. He finished 5th. Jeff Gordon had led the race on different occasions in the #24 DuPont Chevrolet. He finished 8th. Joe Nemechek, had finished Saturday's Busch race 2nd, but his engine failed at the end of today's race causing him to finish 21st in the #25 UAW/Delphi Chevrolet.
Kevin Harvick led early in the race with the #29 Goodwrench Chevrolet, but didn't have the power to get back in front. He ended in 2nd place. Elliott Sadler gave M&M's their best Winston Cup finish by coming in 3rd. Other top ten finishers included Ricky Craven in the #32 Pontiac (4th), Sterling Marlin in the #40 Coors Light Dodge (6th), Ward Burton in the #22 Caterpillar Dodge (7th), Matt Kenseth in the #17 DeWalt Ford (9th) and Robby Gordon in the #31 Cingular Chevrolet (10th).
But Jr's win was not without controversy. He had moved below the restricted yellow line while
passing Matt Kenseth. NASCAR ruled that Jr was in the process of passing before he moved below the
line to avoid Kenseth, who appeared to be making a block on Jr. However, similar moves in the past
by Tony Stewart, Sterling Marlin and Kenny Wallace resulted in penalties. Rather than a judgement
call, the rule should be "black and white" without any "grey" area. Going below the yellow line is
going below the yellow line. The rule needs to be enforced consistently, without all of the "ifs",
"ands" or "buts".
Article by S. Kipple
4/06/03
Links
Website designed and maintained
by CSP
Media
original content (c)2002-2003 Dawn Church
Visit http://www.Virtual411.com
"Your Place" in cyberspace
Statements within are the opinions of their authors and do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of CSP Media and their affiliates.