Summary:

Earnhardt cuts tire, finishes 25th_7/23
Dale Earnhardt ran up front during much of the first 3/4s of Sunday's Pennsylvania 500, occasionally leading. Unfortunately on Lap 145, he blew a right-front tire and had to coast around the track and onto pit road just as the field began a third series of green-flag pit stops. Earnhardt fell a lap down in the process. The blowout relegated him to a 25th-place finish and cost him second spot in the standings. He now trails leader Bobby Labonte by 107 points and series champion Dale Jarrett by 54 after 19 of 34 races.

"I felt it going down down the front straightaway, said Earnhardt of his tire. "I was already past pit road. It made it through turn one OK and the tunnel turn it went down pretty good and it started shredding up here in turn three. It shook the whole front end apart, the bolts and the nuts were loose. I had about a round of play in the steering wheel. I'd go in the corner and I had to be ahead of it. We took a big enough hit (in the points). That was one of our biggest worries, taking a big hit in the points. We were running too good to have that kind of day. We'll just have to rebound and come back and get 'em at Indy. I like Indy. I think it's a good race track for us. We tested good up there. We'll be good."

Earnhardt qualifies 25th_7/21
Dale Earnhardt qualified 25th on Friday at Pocono Raceway.


Earnhardt Pocono preview_7/19
Dale Earnhardt reached another milestone in the history of American motorsports when he collected $69,425 in winnings two weekends ago at New Hampshire International Speedway to surpass the $38 million mark in career NASCAR Winston Cup winnings. Earnhardt reached the once unconceivable mark in 659 NASCAR Winston Cup starts dating back to 1975.

The "Intimidator" will be starting his 660th NASCAR Winston Cup event this Sunday at Pocono Raceway. This race also marks Earnhardt's 632 consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup race, the 632 mark stands second only to Terry Labonte. Earnhardt has missed four races in his NASCAR Winston Cup career because of injury when he was involved in an accident at Pocono Raceway in 1979.

The GM Goodwrench Service Plus team will be returning to the Long Pond racetrack with the same machine they raced there four races ago. That Chevrolet Monte Carlo has been good to the RCR team with a performance of three top-ten finishes at Richmond, Pocono and New Hampshire.

Consistency! That's the key ingredient for the GM Goodwrench Service Plus team in 2000. In the first 18 events they have racked up 15 top-10 finishes, including eight in a row. The RCR team has led 189 laps in nine of those races.

QUOTES

"We've gained some momentum since our last trip here," remarked crew chief Kevin Hamlin. "We didn't do too much last week except test at Indy. Afterwards everyone took some time off for a well deserved rest."

"We showed we had the car to beat last month," stated Earnhardt. "We're bringing that same car back with us. The guys have tweaked on it a little and it's ready to go. Last time here we had one get away from us and finished fourth. All in all we lost about 15 points on the final run down. That's what NASCAR racing is all about good solid racing."