Sports: Foes say Dale Jr. won fairly

Foes say Dale Jr. won fairly

By KEVIN KELLY

While some may be demanding a congressional hearing into Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s restrictor plate and others want the rights to make a movie about his dominating victory in the Pepsi 400 on Saturday, those in the Winston Cup garage appear convinced the outcome was not predetermined by NASCAR.

"It doesn't happen like that," said defending Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte, who finished fifth. "Races are won and lost for reasons. This is not the WWF."

His crew chief reiterated that he thought NASCAR was operating on "the up and up," but that there are some gray areas when it comes to the sanctioning body's inspection process.

"I don't think you're ever going to get anybody totally comfortable with it," Jimmy Makar said. "There are still very small gray areas that you'll never be able to fully understand. You could get a restrictor plate given to you that would be a little bit different and the naked eye would never see it. But ... if we enter that arena, if we enter that kind of a situation, we're all doomed."

Makar and Labonte are part of a growing majority who feel Earnhardt Jr.'s emotional and dominating performance was legitimate.

Earnhardt Jr. led 116 of 160 laps with the same aerodynamic rules package in place that produced 49 lead changes when he finished second to teammate Michael Waltrip in the season-opening Daytona 500.

There were 14 lead changes in the Pepsi 400.

"If anybody had passed the word to let Junior win, they sure forgot to tell a lot of folks," driver Jeremy Mayfield said. "Those guys deserve a lot of credit for a great car and a great race, and it's a shame some people are trying to take that away from them."

ONE TO GO: From what Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher saw during a recent test session at Silverstone, McLaren drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard could pose a serious threat to him at the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

"I don't think my rivals are weak," the three-time world champion told Autosport.com.

A win in the British Grand Prix would be Schumacher's seventh in 11 races this season and would give him 51 in his career, tying Alain Prost atop Formula One's all-time win list.

Schumacher leads Coulthard, a two-time winner this season, by 31 points in the season standings while Ferrari leads McLaren in the Constructor's Championship by 52 points. Hakkinen is 69 points behind Schumacher.

"I have never rated McLaren to be off the pace, to be honest, and I won't do it now," Schumacher said. "When you analyze their performance more deeply, you see they are still very strong."

NEW TRACK: Entering the inaugural Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, 12 drivers had competed in all eight inaugural Winston Cup races since 1988 -- Brett Bodine, Geoffrey Bodine, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip.

Chicago is the first of two new tracks on this season's schedule. Kansas Speedway will play host to the Kansas 400 on Sept. 30.

"I'm always a little apprehensive going somewhere new," Rudd said. "Generally, I've done very well at inaugural race tracks. I've won at a few inaugural race tracks (including Sears Point in 1989), but if you go in there you can actually put a lot of undue pressure on yourself going to a new race track. I like to go in there real loose and kind of laid back."

ODDS AND ENDS: CART driver Michael Andretti has won the Toronto Molson Indy a record six times in 15 career starts. His victory last season gave him 40 career wins, the most of any active driver. ... Dodge Motorsports has pushed back its application deadline for its motorsports diversity scholarship program to July 17. Applications can be found on the Dodge Web site (www.4adodge.com/racing) or the Universal Technical Institute's Web site (www.uticorp.com). Applications also may be requested by calling (866) 256-8954.

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.