Dale Jr. wins MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400

Dale Jr. dives into his crew in Victory Lane.

By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
September 24, 2001
10:12 AM EDT (1412 GMT)

DOVER, Del. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. was strong for 400 laps on the way to a convincing MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 victory.

It is Earnhardt Jr.'s second win of 2001 and fourth of his Winston Cup career.

Jerry Nadeau was second and was followed by Ricky Rudd, points leader Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

MBNA Cal Jr. 400 Results  Winston Cup Standings  Rudd: 'He took the race from us'  Nadeau finishes second  Race Notebook  The Championship 2001  Mayfield has hard crash  Video: Victory Lane  Video: Wallace and Rudd  Video: Lap 129 wreck  Dale Jr. polo, $39.99

Leading five times for a race-high 193 laps of the 400 lap event, Earnhardt earned his fourth career victory and first on Dover’s one-mile, high-banked concrete oval.

He had to hang onto to his lead after a late-race restart when Dale Jarrett, while running fourth, spun on the backstretch with 12 laps to go after getting touched from behind by Tony Stewart.

Earnhardt led the early portion of the race, then had to overcome handling problems.

On lap 362, Earnhardt went by then race leader Dale Jarrett and used his strong running car to get to Victory Lane.

“I wasn’t really happy how the car ran today,” Earnhardt said. “It ran good when it counted. We were real tight in the middle of the race and the car was chattering and bouncing around.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third and first in the two Dover events in 2001.

“But, we were able to get dialed back in. I’m just excited to be here. I led the laps when they counted. I give a lot of credit to my crew for getting the cars adjusted right.

“We really needed another win and didn’t think it was going to come this soon.”

Through the last 10 races, he has registered six top-10s and moved back to sixth in points.

While Earnhardt was pulling away through the field, Jerry Nadeau was moving through it.

Ricky Rudd spun while leading but rallied to finish third.

Using his 10th provisional of the year, he started 41st in his No. 25 Chevrolet Through adjustments and pit stops, he worked into the top-10, then into second for his top finish of the year.

“We needed this bad this week,” Nadeau said. “The guys did a super job. I’ve been struggling a lot in qualifying. I think a lot of was tires. In race mode, we have one of the best cars out there. It showed today.

“We got a little bobble up one time in a wreck and I had to work my back to the front. I had nothing for Junior, he had a good car and we had a second-place car.”

Ricky Rudd led twice for 169 laps and was poised for his fifth Dover victory. On lap 346, Rudd was leading in his No. 28 Ford and was preparing to put Rusty Wallace’s No. 2 Ford down a lap.

They made contact as Rudd went by, and Wallace tapped him in the back. Rudd went spinning down the backstretch, but didn’t make contact with the wall.

Ricky Rudd (left) and Rusty Wallace talk things over in the garage after the race.

A quick pit stop returned him fifth for the restart and he fought back to a third-place finish. The fighting didn’t stop there -- it carried over into the garage area.

After getting out of their cars, Rudd chased Wallace down to confront him on the contact. As the two exchanged heated words, Rudd claimed that Wallace cost him the race.

With NASCAR officials and both drivers crew chiefs standing there, Rudd reached over and grabbed the front of Wallace’s uniform.

“We got damage messing with Rubberhead Wallace there,” Rudd said. “He hit us and bent a fender in. He took the race away from us.”

Finishing fourth was series point leader Jeff Gordon. After starting 23rd, he overcame contact with Ricky Craven and Ron Ron Hornaday over the course of the 400 miles.

With Rudd finishing one spot ahead of him, Gordon still leads the points by 212 markers over Rudd.

“I feel like I ran 500 laps at Dover today,” Gordon said. “What a great race for these fans. This is just awesome to get back racing and battle like that.

“Our team fought hard all day in the pits. I didn’t do them any favors knocking a couple of fenders out. Fixing them put us behind.

“It was great getting back into the top-five and get that finish.”

With the patriotic theme emanating through the facility with fans and teams alike showing pride in their country, Earnhardt Jr. took notice of the day’s events.

Jeff Gordon scored his 17th top-five finish of the season.

“It was great to have Lee Greenwood and Tanya Tucker singing those songs before the race,” Dale Jr. said. “I didn’t do a burnout when I won because my Daddy said that it takes too much of a toll on the cars.

“So, I grabbed the American flag and made a Polish Victory Lap to show the fans we’re all just people. We (drivers) put our pants on the same way they do.”

Rounding out the top-10 was Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Joe Nemechek, Sterling Marlin, Casey Atwood and Bobby Hamilton.