It was a wild one….it was a plate race….and it was Talladega! What more can be said? In a rough race (both on the track and in the pits) Michael Waltrip prevailed in a four lap sprint to the finish today at Talladega Superspeedway in the EA Sports 500, holding off his DEI teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr (who was going for five in a row) to take his second win of the season (Mikey won the Daytona 272.5 back in February) and the 4th win of his career. With every one of ’em a plate win, Mikey is now locked in a 16-way tie for 65th on the all-time win list. This was also win #14 for Dale Earnhardt Inc., and means that DEI has now won seven of the last nine plate races. Rough you say? Larry Foyt to the hospital, Elliott Sadler to the hospital, and the Petty Enterprises jackman sprawled on pit road…..I’d call that rough. Dale Earnhardt Jr (2nd) had his best finish since he won here back in April. Mike Wallace (10th) had his best finish since he was 9th at Daytona in February. Jason Keller (26th) had his career-best (albeit only his second start) today. His only previous effort was subbing for Jerry Nadeau at Richmond in May when he finished 32nd. Christian Fittipaldi (28th) had his best finish since he was 24th at Pocono in July. And, on the flip side, Matt Kenseth (33rd) had his worst finish since he was 40th at Homestead last November. STREAKIN….Rusty Wallace has 4 Top-10’s in a row. Ryan Newman has 7 Top-10’s in the last 8 races. The Rookie Report: Jamie McMurray (16th) was the top-finishing freshman again this week (for the 15th time this season). He was followed by Greg Biffle (24th), Tony Raines (31st), Casey Mears (37th), and Larry Foyt (43rd). If anybody’s taking a poll, register my vote for running that Davey Allison retro paint job forever. It sure brought back great memories! This Week’s Elevator….UP: The Operator of the Week is Dale Earnhardt Jr (+36), followed by Kurt Busch (+33), Dave Blaney (+25), Rusty Wallace (+24), Kevin Harvick (+23), and Robby Gordon (+22). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Sterling Marlin (-35), followed by Jimmie Johnson (-31), Elliott Sadler (-29), Casey Mears (-29), and Buckshot Jones (-24). A wild day on the track translates to a wild day in the shaft. For Jr, this was Op #2 on the season, and for Sterling this was BD #3. Buckshot Jones led today for the first time since he led one lap at Michigan in June of 2001. He’s the 46th different driver to lead a lap this season….the same number as last year. It would appear that Matt Kenseth suffered little more than a hiccup today. His blown engine cost him 82 points off his lead (it’s now down to 354), but didn’t make a major change in his “Magic Number” vs Kevin Harvick. It’s still a very healthy 9. Everybody from 22nd on down is now out of the running. Ward Burton & Ricky Craven made multiple position moves forward today, while Ricky Rudd, Jeremy Mayfield, and Kyle Petty (a dnq this week) made the same trek downwards.( StockCarFans.Com Winston Cup Newsletter )(9-28-2003)
