Earnhardt Atlanta pre-race

* The return to Atlanta Motor Speedway comes almost eight months after the GM Goodwrench Service Plus team left there with its first win of the 2000 NASCAR season. In what is still considered one of the closes race ever at AMS, Dale Earnhardt edged Bobby Labonte by a headlight to add to the "Intimidator's" list with a record of nine wins at AMS.

* The win at Atlanta Motor Speedway was Dale Earnhardt's 75th NASCAR Winston Cup victory. A memorable victory lane was had as Earnhardt met and accepted the trophy from retired Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and former United States Army General Colin Powell. "I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Colin Powell and the things he has accomplished. He was a strong leader for our country and I'm thrilled to have had the chance to get to meet him."

* The win at Atlanta moved Earnhardt into the top-five in the points standings and from there the GM Goodwrench Service Plus team took off with consistency claiming12 top-10 finishes in the next 14 races. They never fell from the top-five in points since leaving Atlanta Motor Speedway.

* With the NASCAR Winston Cup championship already locked up by Bobby Labonte. The GM Goodwrench Service Plus team goes into the final event battling for second place in the points standings with Jeff Burton. Burton took the lead by 19 points over Earnhardt last week at Homestead. "We're racing the 99 team," remarked Earnhardt. "They jumped ahead of us last week and now we have one chance to get it back. We need to repeat our performance from March and that's all we can do. If we're ahead of them when the checkered flag drops we'll see where it all winds up."

* The team of Richard Childress and Dale Earnhardt are on record as being one of the most successful teams in NASCAR history. Since joining forces in 1984 to run for the championship, the Childress/Earnhardt combination has achieved the ultimate success and then some in their 17 years together. With six NASCAR Championships to their credit, the combination can be proud of many achievements, but one that they are very proud of is that of consistency. Since 1984, Richard Childress Racing with Dale Earnhardt driving the No. 3 has only finished out of the top-10 in the season ending points standings one time. That was in 1992 when the duo fell to 12th . They have also won at least one race a year in all but one of those years, when in 1997 the two never made it to the winners circle.

* Dale Earnhardt will appear on ESPN's 2MinuteDrill on Thanksgiving Day. ESPN's new game show, hosted by ESPN personality Kenny Mayne, will air at 7:00 pm, on Thursday, November 23rd, 2000. Earnhardt will be reading questions to the contestants vying for the grand prize. On the panel with the NASCAR champion is NBA player Juwan Howard of the Washington Wizards, and the New York Giants secondary specialist Jason Sehorn, ESPN anchor Rob Eisen, along with host Kenny Mayne.

Earnhardt comments on fellow Champion and friend Darrell Waltrip:

"Darrel leaves behind a great legacy as a driver and champion in NASCAR. I raced against him as a rookie in 1979 and as a champion. He helped me early on to understand what being a champion was all about. Over the years we've had our differences, that's going to happen when you have two competitive people.

"I know in his heart he doesn't want to stop driving race cars. One of the highlights for myself was when he drove a DEI car when Park was all broken up. We had a rookie team and he came in with his veteran experience and was a big asset. He proved he could still run in the front and I think it boosted his confidence to continue driving.

"He'll do a good job on TV, he's a natural with his colorful personality. I just hope he doesn't talk about me and tell any stories. He's seen it all happen and will be able to give a new perspective of what's happening on the track. It'll be fun for the viewers.

"It's a good situation for him. He will be able to spend more time with Stevie and their girls and at the same time still come to the race track. I'm sure Stevie and the girls are looking forward to having him around more."