Dale Earnhardt

Good morning--Dale Earnhardt Jr.--You will be richly rewarded for cutting the family ties.

DOVER, Del. - In his red driver's suit and dark brown sunglasses, Dale Earnhardt Jr. may epitomize the cool look of a stock car driver. But when it comes to his desire for his first NASCAR Nextel Cup championship, there is nothing cool about him. "To win the title will be difficult now or in five years," he said. "But I will absolutely win it, and when I do, it will be tough not to retire. In my heart, it will be the greatest achievement of my life. It will be really emotional and awkward and awesome all at the same time."

RICHMOND, Va. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned into a moonlight gambler last night and won the Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Earnhardt chose not to follow race leader Tony Stewart into the pits during a caution period on Lap 346 for a final pit stop, and then, on the restart, drove away from everyone. Jimmie Johnson, who also gambled on not pitting, finished second. "I left it up to my crew," Earnhardt said. "But I was real loose on new tires, so pitting wasn't really an option.

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.

Included on a recent preseason Winston Cup media tour of team garages in North Carolina was NASCAR's new Research and Development facility in Concord. Locked in a small room inside that facility are a number of large parts for cars. "Those parts are used as a standard for parts that show up at the racetracks," said Gary Nelson, NASCAR's managing director of competition. "We're able to bench-mark what we see at the track to originals." A very good tool, wouldn't you say, to be able to go back to the original to measure how close something is after being modified or, perhaps, damaged at the racetrack?

Kyle Petty hasn't won a race since 1995, and after two races this season, he is 21st in the Winston Cup points standings. But that doesn't mean he's not popular. And it doesn't mean people aren't rooting for him. For those who might not be Petty fans and have doubts about just how popular the son of seven-time champion Richard Petty is, consider this: Rides with all 43 Winston Cup drivers around the track before today's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 in Las Vegas were put out to bid in a charity auction that raised $110,000 Thursday for children's charities.

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.

At 28, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still fresh-faced and a member of the youth movement in Winston Cup racing. When he talks about himself, something he did at length last weekend in Daytona Beach, Fla., it becomes apparent just how young he really is. Years ago, tennis great John McEnroe seemingly carried an imaginary couch around with him for media interviews that often felt like therapy sessions. These days, Earnhardt does much the same thing. Responding to questions, he expands into impromptu self-examinations.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - If anyone believes life is stranger than fiction, it is Michael Waltrip. The only previous win in Waltrip's career came here at Daytona International Speedway in the Daytona 500 after 462 futile starts. And at the very moment he was crossing the finish line in the sport's most important race, with his teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finishing right behind him, his best friend and car owner Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash a quarter-mile behind him. Last night in the Pepsi 400, Waltrip, in his 515th start, got his second career win. It came on the same track.

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.