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By JOANNE KORTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 25, 2001
Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't have to be lonely anymore.
He has a sidekick.
Earnhardt Jr. won the Cal Ripken Jr. 400 Sunday at Dover Downs with a stowaway in his No. 8 Chevrolet: a volleyball named Wilson, just like in the movie Cast Away.
In the movie, starring Tom Hanks, the lead character is stranded on an island for years with only a volleyball for imaginary company. Earnhardt Jr. has felt similarly isolated since his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., died in February.
"I think Tom Hanks is good in about any movie, but I think that Cast Away is awesome," said Earnhardt Jr., who won for the fourth time in his 66th start. "I guess because I feel like I've been on a deserted island since my dad died in February."
Crew members painted a face on the ball, just like in the movie, and secretly strapped it into the No. 8 before the race. Earnhardt did not know it was there until an early caution period, when car chief Tony Eury Jr. told him to look behind his water bottle.
"WILSONNNNN!" Earnhardt Jr. screamed.
The volleyball turned out to be more than good company. It also was good luck.
"Now that we've won with it, maybe it brought me some luck, too," Earnhardt Jr. said.
MAYFIELD'S BELT TORE: NASCAR officials found a tear in Jeremy Mayfield's left lap belt after his accident at Dover.
The belt was made by Simpson Performance Products, the same company that manufactured the torn belt found in Earnhardt Sr.'s car after his fatal accident.
NASCAR officials attributed Mayfield's torn belt to "dumping," a term introduced in the investigation into Earnhardt's crash. Dumping occurs when the webbing is bunched to one side of the adjustment device. Because force is not evenly distributed across the fibers, the belt can tear.
NASCAR said Mayfield's belt was only partly torn. Earnhardt's was completely separated.
Simpson has maintained that Earnhardt's belt would not have broken in the accident if it had been installed properly. Chip Williams, Mayfield's spokesman, said the crew insisted the belts were properly installed in Mayfield's car.
NASCAR has sent Mayfield's belt to an outside expert for inspection and will report the findings to drivers this week.
MR. NICE GUY: While Ricky Rudd and Rusty Wallace called one another names after a late-race incident, Dale Jarrett took the high road regarding contact from Tony Stewart. After two sorrowful weeks, Jarrett said, there are worse things than finishing 12th in a race.
"We'll work that out one day," said Jarrett, who likely would have finished among the top five were it not for the contact.
"Not that I'm not mad about what happened, but you've got to kind of put things in perspective."
Stewart, whose temper has gotten him into trouble this season, seemed unwilling to accept the blame, but seemed genuinely sorry that it was Jarrett who spun.
"He is not a guy that I ever want to turn," said Stewart, who finished fifth. "I really like Dale Jarrett. He's a good guy and he's been a good friend to me this year.
HARD CHARGER: Jerry Nadeau's second-place finish was his best of the season. Nadeau used a provisional to start 41st in the No. 25 Chevrolet but worked his way through the field and took advantage of others' misfortune in the closing laps.
SKINNER SURGERY: Mike Skinner, lame duck driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet, will have surgery this season to replace the ACL and repair the MCL in his left knee.
NUMBERS TO CRUNCH: Cars driven by Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon carried crash data recorders at Dover, and it didn't take long for data to be collected. Labonte's No. 18 Pontiac hit the wall on Lap 20 after contact from Bill Elliott's No. 9 Dodge.
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.