Summary:
Earnhardt's 600th straight start a forgettable
one
Full Report - Aug. 15
 Dale Earnhardt made
his 600th straight start on Sunday in the Frontier @ the Glen. Starting from the 14th
position, Earnhardt had faith in his car and hopes for a strong, memorable run. Those
hopes turned sour quick.
Sixteen laps into the race, Mike Skinner and Earnhardt were racing back and forth
for the fourteenth position. Entering turn one, Skinner ducked to the inside of Earnhardt
and made the pass. Earnhardt followed Skinner into turn one, but Earnhardt had allot more
momentum  than did Skinner. Dale bumped Skinner
squarely in the back bumper and sent Skinner spinning. Dale made a hard right turn to
avoid Skinner, who was out of control, but John Andretti was to Earnhardt's right. Contact
with Andretti's car sent Dale spinning too. Dale found himself in the grass on the left
side of the track after the spin. When traffic cleared and Dale drove back onto the track,
he had fallen all the way to 40th position, on a road course, where track position means
so much.
When Earnhardt got back up to speed after the incident, he felt he had a right side
tire going down. Fortunately, a few circuits later on lap 20, Ernie Irvan spun into a sand
trap and the caution came out. Earnhardt got four fresh tires and fuel during his pit stop
under the caution, and exited the pits in 39th position.
By around lap 33, Earnhardt was back up to 20th spot.
On lap 55, while running in the 19th position, Earnhardt pitted under green with
teammate Mike Skinner. These were planned to be, and were, Earnhardt's and Skinner's final
pit stops of the day. Skinner beat Earnhardt out of the pits by a few seconds. Earnhardt
re-entered the track in 23rd position.
With one lap to go it looked like Earnhardt would finish 16th. That's when things
took another turn for the worse. On the final corner of the final lap, Dale got tangled up
with Bill Elliott, teammate Mike Skinner, and Joe Nemechek and was shuffled back to 20th
when the dust had cleared.
"It was a bad day," said Earnhardt. "We didn't have the car to run
and we weren't in position to run. That 600th straight start was pretty sorry. It isn't
one I want to remember."
Nor does Elliott.
"We were just racing," said Elliott, who qualified eighth and had a
strong car all afternoon. "I got inside of Nemechek and we got together hard enough
that I had to finish with a flat left front tire. We went from ninth to 28th, but that's
just lap racing sometimes."
The incident sent Earnhardt's car hard into the styrofoam barrier and stoked a few
tempers.
"I drove my car in way too deep and here comes Elliott. I knew there was no
way he was going to make it," said Nemechek, who ended up 30th. "It's a shame.
The last lap, running good, the car is all tore to hell. We were both running eighth. I'm
still hot right now, but I'll cool down."
WGI a mixed bag for Childress teams Aug. 16
For one Richard Childress Racing
driver, Sunday's Frontier @ The Glen was another step in the right direction. For the
other, it was a step he would like to have back.
Full
Story.
Earnhardt qualifies 14th in Watkins Glen Aug. 13
Dale Earnhardt was the 7th car on the track
during Friday's qualifying at Watkins Glen. He will start 14th in Sunday's Frontier @ the
Glen after running a satisfying lap of 119.598 mph.
Two impressive streaks continue
By MIKE HARRIS AP Motorsports Writer
Terry Labonte is known as the Iron Man, thanks to his record consecutive starts string of
621 races heading into Sunday's event at Watkins Glen.
But seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt isn't far behind.
The Intimidator will start his 600th straight race on Sunday.
``Six hundred consecutive starts is a lot of years of racing without missing the
show,'' Earnhardt said. ``This goes back to 1979 and there were one or two of those races
that I probably shouldn't have started.
``The one at Watkins Glen (in 1996) when I was all broken up from the wreck at
Talladega was probably one of those. But I was determined not to let that keep me down and
we came to Watkins Glen and sat on the pole. It hurt, but it felt so good I didn't notice
until Monday morning after the race.''
Earnhardt raced that year with a broken collarbone and breast bone and finished
sixth.
Earnhardt approaching milestone mark Aug. 10
 NASCAR
Online
The last time Dale Earnhardt failed to crank the engine of his No. 3 racecar in a
sanctioned NASCAR Winston Cup Series event, he'd won just once and his now famous namesake
was in diapers.
It was the waning weeks of summer 1979, and Earnhardt was suffering from a painful
fractured collarbone he suffered in a crash at Pocono Raceway weeks earlier. Despite
tremendous pain, he opted to return to the driver's seat of the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet
on Sept. 9, just four races after the injury.
Five hundred and ninety-nine races later, he has yet to miss another one.
Full Story.
Earnhardt closes in on 600th straight start
Aug. 6
By JIM UTTER The Charlotte Observer
INDIANAPOLIS -- Dale Earnhardt is scheduled to make his 600th consecutive career start at
the Aug. 15 Frontier at the Glen at Watkins Glen, N.Y.
``It's amazing how time flies,'' said Earnhardt. ``Six
hundred consecutive starts is a lot of years of races without missing the show. This goes
back to 1979 and there were one or two of those races that I probably shouldn't have
started.
``The one at Watkins Glen when I was all broken up from the
wreck at Talladega was probably one of those. But I was determined not to let that keep me
down and we came to Watkins Glen and sat on the pole. It hurt, but it felt so good I
didn't notice until Monday morning after the race.''
Earnhardt still holds the qualifying record at the road
course, with a lap at 120.733 mph set in 1996.
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