DAYTONA 500 NOTEBOOK: DAD KNOWS BEST : EARNHARDT TAKES FLAG AT IROC.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Dale Earnhardt This article is about the elder Dale Earnhardt. For his son, see Dale Earnhardt, Jr.. For the racing team he founded, see Dale Earnhardt, Inc.. Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. can still teach his son a thing or two. He won the opening round of the 1999 International Race of Champions series on Friday, using plenty of patience and an aggressive last-lap move. The elder Earnhardt rode around the 2-1/2-mile Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is a 2.5 mile (4 km) tri-oval race track facility with a seating capacity of 168,000 spectators. trailing three-time defending IROC IROC International Race Of Champions IROC Independent Rental Owners Council IROC Independent Rental Owners Committee IROC Instantaneous Rate of Change IROC Integrated Repair Operations Center (Sprint) IROC Intrusion-Resistant Optical Cable champion Mark Martin and just ahead of Bobby Labonte Robert Alan Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American race car driver and drives the #43 Cheerios Dodge Charger for the Petty Enterprises NASCAR Racing Team in the Nextel Cup Series and the #77 Dollar General Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Kevin Harvick Incorporated in the Busch Series. from lap 17 until the final turn of the 40th and last lap. ``I tried to make a move off turn two, but Mark was too smart for that,'' Earnhardt said. ``Off (turn) four, I tried to get under him and he pinched me down. I bumped him a little, got a little room, scooted under him and Bobby pushed us by.'' Earnhardt finished 0.107-seconds - about 1-1/2 car-lengths - ahead of Labonte, who nipped Martin for second place by less than 6 inches. The winner's cream-colored car was one of 12 identically prepared IROC racers in the 100-mile event. The event began with the crowd of about 40,000 hoping for a head-to-head battle between the Earnhardts, whose only previous race together was an exhibition last November in Japan. But 24-year-old Dale Earnhardt Jr., the defending champion defending champion n (SPORT) → defensor/a m/f del tÃtulo defending champion n (Sport) → champion(ne) en titre in the NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Busch Grand National Series, wasn't around for long after he slid sideways and slammed into Rusty Wallace's car on lap seven. As his father, a seven-time Winston Cup champion, strode toward victory lane, Earnhardt Jr. walked up in street clothes to congratulate him. ``I got wrecked, Daddy. Those guys were wrecking all over the place out there,'' Earnhardt Jr. said. The elder Earnhardt said, ``What were you doing?'' ``I just wanted to get to the front,'' his son said, grinning. His father put an arm around the precocious kid's shoulders and said: ``It don't pay to get to the front on that lap. You have to wait for the last one.'' Caution laps don't count in IROC and when the race resumed at the start of lap nine, Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is a professional American race car driver. He was born in Vallejo, California, raised in Pittsboro, Indiana, and currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. , the two-time defending Winston Cup champion, was out front, with CART driver Adrian Fernandez and Martin right behind. Earnhardt was sixth. On lap 17, Martin forged into the lead and fellow NASCAR drivers Nextel Cup Drivers Drivers in these lists are as of July 27, 2007. All newer press releases for the 2007 season have yet to be added. All statistics used in these tables are as of the end of the 2007 Sharpie 500 race. Earnhardt and Labonte moved into position right behind one lap later. That's the way it stayed until the last turn. ``I was just hoping they'd be patient behind me and they were,'' Earnhardt said. The runner-up was disappointed he wasn't able to take a shot at the win. ``I couldn't quite get up to Dale to do what I wanted to and then help myself,'' Labonte said. ``I ended up with all my tires on the apron, just hanging on.'' The next event in the four-race series is April 24 at Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway is a motorsports complex located in Talladega, Alabama. It was constructed in the 1960s in place of abandoned airport runways by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by NASCAR's founding France family along with Daytona International , with the drivers starting in reverse order of their Daytona finish. DAYTONA 500 DAYTONA BEACH Daytona Beach (dātō`nə), city (1990 pop. 61,921), Volusia co., NE Fla., on the Atlantic coast and Halifax River (a lagoon); inc. 1876. Center of a rapidly urbanizing area, in a region settled by Spanish Franciscans in the 17th cent. , Fla. - Lineup for Sunday's Daytona 500 with car number in parentheses See parenthesis. parentheses - See left parenthesis, right parenthesis. , driver, car make and qualifying speed in mph (positions 3-30 determined by results of 125-mile qualifying races): 1. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 195.067. 2. (20) Tony Stewart For other persons named Tony Stewart, see Tony Stewart (disambiguation). Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart (born May 20, 1971) is an auto racing driver who was born in Columbus, Indiana. He has won championships in sprint cars, Indy cars, and stock cars. , Pontiac, 194.599. 3. (18) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac. 4. (3) Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet. 5. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford. 6. (12) Jeremy Mayfield, Ford. 7. (33) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet. 8. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford. 9. (6) Mark Martin, Ford. 10. (2) Rusty Wallace, Ford. 11. (23) Jimmy Spencer, Ford. 12. (31) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet. 13. (7) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet. 14. (16) Kevin Lepage, Ford. 15. (77) Robert Pressley, Ford. 16. (4) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet. 17. (40) Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet. 18. (22) Ward Burton, Pontiac. 19. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet. 20. (30) Derrike Cope, Pontiac. 21. (98) Rick Mast, Ford. 22. (45) Rich Bickle, Pontiac. 23. (1) Steve Park, Chevrolet. 24. (44) Kyle Petty, Pontiac. 25. (9) Jerry Nadeau, Ford. 26. (97) Chad Little, Ford. 27. (75) Ted Musgrave, Ford. 28. (58) Ricky Craven, Ford. 29. (10) Ricky Rudd, Ford. 30. (60) Geoffrey Bodine, Chevrolet. 31. (36) Ernie Irvan, Pontiac, 193.978. 32. (42) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 193.628. 33. (55) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 193.494. 34. (25) Wally Dallenbach Jr., Chevrolet, 193.282. 35. (71) Dave Marcis, Chevrolet, 192.794. 36. (43) John Andretti, Pontiac, 192.439. 37. (94) Bill Elliott, Ford, provisional. 38. (21) Elliott Sadler, Ford, provisional. 39. (26) Johnny Benson, Ford, provisional. 40. (11) Brett Bodine, Ford, provisional. 41. (28) Kenny Irwin, Ford, provisional. 42. (90) Mike Wallace, Ford, provisional. 43. (66) Darrell Waltrip, Ford, provisional. CAPTION(S): Box Box: DAYTONA 500 (See text) |
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