Dale Earnhardt Coca-Cola 600 Preview

The GM Goodwrench Service Plus Monte Carlo that Dale Earnhardt drove to a third place finish in Saturday nights 16th Winston all star event will again take to the track this weekend for the longest event on the NASCAR circuit. The Peter Max designed paint scheme can be seen once again this weekend for 600 miles as Earnhardt vies for his second win of the season.

Earnhardt has won the marathon event three times in his career including back-to-back victories in 1992 and '93. The win in 1993 was the seven-time champion's fifth win at the 1.5-mile oval. With another trip to the winner's circle, Earnhardt will tie NASCAR legends Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for most victories (6) at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Growing up a few miles away from Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt watched many races at CMS in his lifetime. He studied the greats like Buck Baker, David Pearson and Cale Yarbourgh, as they competed watching every lap hoping for the chance to get out there himself. That homework must have paid off because Earnhardt in only his seventh attempt, won his first NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 5, 1980.

Richard Childress Racing will have four cars competing this weekend at LMS. Childress, who entered the Busch Series as a car owner in 2000, will be closely watching Rookie Kevin Harvick and Mike Dillon compete for the win in Saturday's BGN event. Harvick is currently 8th in the series point standings while following fellow series rookie Ron Hornaday by 10 points in the series rookie standings. Then on Sunday night Childress will watch both Mike Skinner and Dale Earnhardt try to beat the field for the 400 lap marathon. Earnhardt will be vying for his sixth win and Skinner looks for his first NASCAR Winston Cup series victory.

QUOTES

"We're bringing back the same car we had Saturday night," commented Earnhardt. "They had it in the body shop at 7:00 am Sunday morning and ready to go by noon. I have to give credit to the team, they fixed the car during the race so I could try to get to the front and did a good job. Then early Sunday morning they already had it ready to go for this week. It's a team effort and I feel we have one of the best teams out here. Everyone of them are dedicated and focused on winning, As a driver you can't ask for more than that We're going to be good Sunday."

"I already know that Dale's the greatest driver in our sport," remarked Richard Childress. "but I'm beginning to wonder what impact he's going to have as a car owner. DEI cars were pretty impressive all weekend. That team and kid had it going on Saturday night. Congratulations to everyone at DEI on last weekend."