Talladega win vaults Earnhardt into points lead

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 9:59 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

It has become a given that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has the best car at Talladega Superspeedway. The new Nextel Cup points leader's come-from-way-behind victory in Sunday's EA Sports 500 at Talladega, Ala., showed that his driving skills are as impressive as the performance of his No. 8 Chevrolet.

A ho-hum race turned dramatic when Bobby Labonte and Sterling Marlin crashed on the frontstretch on Lap 179 of 188, just as the leaders, including Earnhardt, headed for pit road for a green-flag pit stop.

With eight laps to go, Earnhardt was 24th. When the green flag was displayed for a five-lap dash to the checkered flag, several other drivers had made pit stops, moving him to 11th.

Two laps later, having dispatched 10 other drivers, he surged past Kevin Harvick into the lead and held on to win for the fifth time this season and for the fifth time in the past seven races at the Alabama track.

Harvick finished second, ahead of Dale Jarrett, Brendan Gaughan and Kurt Busch.

It wasn't just the partisan Talladega fans in the grandstands who recognized that Earnhardt Jr. is just as good -- or maybe better -- than his late father at negotiating the draft on the giant track. He now trails only his father, who has 10 Talladega victories, on the career list.

Jarrett said young Earnhardt's skills showed at the end.

"He's got a fast car, but he does a good job of driving it," he said. "I'm not sure he gets enough credit for that because he's a heck of a young driver."

Earnhardt's victory boosted him from third to first in the standings, and although the 500 didn't have the big wreck that everyone figured would occur and scramble the points standings, there was a significant shuffle among the top 10 drivers.

It could change again before Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway if NASCAR penalizes Earnhardt for uttering an expletive in a post-race TV interview.

Busch maintained his runner-up spot, while Jeff Gordon dropped to third after finishing 19th in the 500.

Adrian Fernandez outdueled Tony Kanaan in the sprint to the finish, with their cars separated by just .0183 second -- about 3 feet -- when they crossed the line.

Kanaan needed only to finish fourth at Fontana to beat out second-place Dan Wheldon for the points title, with the season finale Oct. 17 at Fort Worth.