Dale Earnhardt

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Just because Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the defending Busch Grand National champion doesn't mean he has a pre-ordained right to the pole for the NAPA Auto Parts 300 Saturday.That became clear, when Ken Schrader (189.865 mph) and Randy LaJoie (189.661) earned the front-row starting positions, and Earnhardt (187.891) had to be satisfied with 16th -- and was."This is a victory for us," Earnhardt said. "We've been struggling all week. I was hoping to get in the top 25, so we could begin working on our race setup instead of fooling with it for second-round qualifying."

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt has never experienced a Daytona 500 week like this.For the first time he is the defending Daytona 500 champion, having earned that distinction with a victory in the big race last February. It was his 20th try.So this week, there are no more questions about how disappointed he is at not winning or whether his career will be complete without a Daytona 500 victory."All that's behind us," he said, with a sly grin. "But now, they want to know how it feels not to have those questions asked.

Drivers to watch: Chevy drivers Sterling Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon; Pontiac drivers Bobby Labonte, John Andretti and Ernie Irvan. And Ford drivers Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin.Best bets: Dale Earnhardt or Terry Labonte will break his 20-year Daytona 500 winless streak.Dark horses: Keep an eye out for Michael Waltrip, in his 13th full season without one Winston Cup win. He is looking strong in his Wood Brothers Ford; And 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, driving for a first-year team owned by Chuck Rider, has been impressing with strong practice sessions.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt turns to watch the Busch Grand National practice going on behind him and his voice, when it comes, holds disbelief."

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.

LineupPos., Car, No., Driver, Hometown, Car, Qualifying time31, Mike Skinner , Susanville, Calif., Chevrolet, 189.8132. 41, Steve Grissom, Gadsden, Ala., Chevrolet, 188.31888, Dale Jarrett, Hickory, N.C., Ford4. 3, Dale Earnhardt, Kannapolis, N.C., Chevrolet5. 28, Ernie Irvan, Modesto, Calif., Ford6. 24, Jeff Gordon, Pittsboro, Ind., Chevrolet7. 23, Jimmy Spencer, Berwick, Pa., Ford8. 94, Bill Elliott, Dawsonville, Ga., Ford9. 4, Sterling Marlin, Columbia, Tenn., Chevrolet10. 33, Ken Schrader, Fenton, Mo., ChevroletvTC 11. 6, Mark Martin, Batesville, Ark., Ford12.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt wants to win the Daytona 500. He's waiting to win.But yesterday morning, as his team worked on his Chevrolet in unusually cold, 30-degree temperatures, Earnhardt sat cleaning out his wallet in his nice, warm team transporter and explained why not having won the 500 isn't tearing him apart."

INDIANAPOLIS -- One down, one to go. Dale Earnhardt, who has struggled for nearly two decades without success to win one of stock car racing's oldest classics, the Daytona 500, needed only two attempts to win its newest classic, the Brickyard 400.Earnhardt, in a Chevy Monte Carlo, took the lead after his last pit stop with 28 laps to go yesterday and held off Rusty Wallace, who was second, and a fast-closing Dale Jarrett, each in a Ford Thunderbird, to...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time Winston Cup champion, was wearing a bright red shirt. Dale Jarrett, the man who had beaten him to the finish line in the 1993 Daytona 500 and the man who beat him to the No. 1 starting position for next Sunday's Daytona 500, wore plum.Together, they make quite a sight. Earnhardt in his silver reflective shades. Jarrett in brown reflective shades.They look like they're on the road to Hollywood. Yesterday, they took center stage in this annual roadshow called the Daytona 500."

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.