Dale Earnhardt

This is an off-weekend for the Winston Cup Series. Nothing much going on. Nothing much went on last week, either, aside from a regular weekly points race. But fans who opened their mailboxes last week or hit the magazine stands found the cover of the July 1 Sports Illustrated featuring NASCAR. There was Dale Earnhardt Jr. sitting on top of his race car beside a headline that read: "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Leads NASCAR Nation." How stunning. How frightening! NASCAR Nation. It sounds like a foreign country.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Some Winston Cup car owners see their teams race a lifetime without winning the Daytona 500.Daytona is the crown jewel, the Super Bowl and the most elusive victory on the NASCAR circuit.So when Dale Jarrett completed a last-lap pass of Dale Earnhardt on Sunday in the 35th Daytona 500, it was more than just an exciting win."When I started this thing, I don't think I realized how hard it is to win a race, let alone Daytona," said Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who owns Jarrett's team.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - If your car is wrapped in a rain tarp on pit road and you are declared the official winner of the Daytona 500, how do you celebrate? If you're Michael Waltrip, you run with your team onto the soaking green grass of the front stretch, and then whoop and holler and jump up and down and wave to a grandstand that is still fairly full of people, even in the pouring rain. "I know Dale is smiling now," said Waltrip, who won his first Daytona 500 the day his car owner, seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, died in the fourth turn on the last lap of the 2001 race.

Almost everyone is talking about what a wonder Dale Earnhardt Jr. is, and for good reason. Going into today's Coca Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, the Winston Cup rookie is on the pole. He is also the only driver in the series who has two victories this season. On top of that, he added to his reputation last weekend by winning The Winston, the sport's all-star race. But, maybe the guy everyone should be talking about is Dale Earnhardt -- the elder. It's Dale Jr.'s father who owns the cars "Little E" is driving to victory.

Now that Dale Earnhardt has tied Winston Cup stock car racing's king, Richard Petty, with seven championships, it's only natural comparisons be made.Is Earnhardt as good as Petty?"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a startling admission while promoting the new HD video screen at Charlotte Motor Speedway in conjunction with Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race, saying: "I don't feel a win is close. " This is why Earnhardt is always on the amateur therapist's couch, prompting probing questions. I figured — along with a bunch of other folks — that Earnhardt was close to breaking his winless streak of 104 races. He has been among the most consistent drivers on the Cup circuit this season.

Dale Earnhardt certainly caused a stir last week when he bumped Terry Labonte out of the way at Bristol. When he got to victory lane, the fans booed him so loudly, he probably had a momentary identity crisis.Was he Dale Earnhardt, seven-time champion who has long demonstrated his penchant for roughhouse racing? Or was he the man nearly everyone loves to boo, three-time champ Jeff Gordon?Going into today's usually raucous Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C., there is still a lot of talk about Earnhardt's last move at Bristol, and nearly everyone has an opinion.

Collectors find out about card shows in lots of places -- magazines, newspapers, fliers at shows and word of mouth.When Merrye Atkinson got hooked on autograph collecting, she knew there had to be a better way to find out where the players she wanted would be."It was hard keeping track," says the veteran magazine worker. "I thought, 'Maybe this should be a magazine.' "Three years ago, she started Pocket Pages, a monthly magazine devoted to show listings. At first it covered only California shows; now it is national.

Dale Earnhardt is a superstar, a seven-time Winston Cup champion, envied and feared by competitors, admired by his fans, hated by those who cheer for other drivers.Those who admire the lanky 46-year-old do so, they often say, "because he's just like me, a down-to-earth guy who has worked hard for what he has." It is an image projected not just by Earnhardt, but by almost every Winston Cup driver. It is an image that was real when drivers, such as Earnhardt's father, Ralph, competed in the early 1960s, and it held true through the '70s and '80s.

He'll share a laugh with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the way to drivers' introductions, and he'll be cordial to other drivers during a night out arranged by his sponsor or car manufacturer. But, for the most part, Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth keeps to himself during race weekends. "There's something to be said for people not knowing you very well," said driver Jimmy Johnson. "There's a little intimidation factor, a little mystery. ... If no one knows you, they can't pick you apart.