Sports: Dale Jr. no fan of track

Dale Jr. no fan of track

By JOANNE KORTH

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- The late Dale Earnhardt had an affinity for Darlington Raceway. His son is slightly less enamored with the egg-shaped oval that has been part of Winston Cup racing since 1950.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. criticized the racing surface in a recent interview with Playboy magazine, saying it was made up of sharp chunks of seashell because the asphalt had worn away:

"You have good grip in the tires for maybe five laps, and then you spend the rest of the run -- whether it's 30 laps or 60 laps -- just holding on, trying not to crash, and praying that the yellow flag comes out and you can come in and get new tires. I think I spend most of the race praying."

Earnhardt Sr. had nine victories and 18 top-five finishes in 51 starts at Darlington, nicknamed the track too tough to tame. Three wins came in the Southern 500.

In an attempt to win over the next generation, last week new Darlington Raceway president Andrew Gurtis gave Earnhardt Jr. the Shelly Award, a large seashell mounted on a wooden base.

"It was pretty cool," said Earnhardt Jr., whose best Darlington finish was 11th in last year's Southern 500. "I told them I was surprised there were any seashells left."

BUCKSHOT WILL BE BACK: Buckshot Jones will return next season as driver of the No. 44 Dodge owned by Petty Enterprises, CEO Kyle Petty said. Petty issued a statement to dispel rumors that Jones would not be retained.

"You think you get used to it, but some of the rumors you see and hear these days are incredible," Petty said. "Some rumors just start almost like spontaneous combustion. The best thing to do is just ignore them, but some take on a life of their own, so you have to put them out."

IT'S NOT OVER, YET: Jeff Gordon holds a comfortable 308-point lead over Ricky Rudd in the championship standings, but neither considers the chase over with 12 races left.

"There is a certain percentage of races that Jeff will not finish between now and the end of the season, or if he finishes he'll be limping around," said Rudd, who posted two DNFs in the past four races. "That's just the nature of the game. "The only thing we can do is just eliminate any mechanical failures or accidents from here to the end of the year. That's gonna be our only chance at winning the championship."

Gordon will not drive defensively.

"I keep telling the guys and telling myself that we can't change anything we're doing right now," said Gordon, who won titles in 1995, 1997 and 1998. "It's too early in the season to try and protect points. ... We can't afford to go out and be conservative, because a lot of times you can get yourself in trouble doing that."