races -- and wins. He's won 13 of 65 career Busch Grand
National starts. He claimed the championship in 1998, and
leads again this year. The Autolite Platinum 250 last weekend at Richmond
International Raceway offered the latest evidence that
24-year-old "Junior" will be ready for what awaits him when
he becomes a Winston Cup regular next year in a car owned by
his father.
It also contained signs that father -- a seven-time series
champion -- and son do things differently.
With the patience of a veteran, Earnhardt Jr. waited until
his Chevrolet was ready before making a move around Winston
Cup star Mark's Ford with seven laps to go and held on
to beat him in the Busch series event.He didn't force the issue the way his namesake had just two weeks earlier by spinning out Terry Labonte on the final lap to win a Winston Cup race in Bristol, Tenn.
And, Junior almost seemed to be screaming "I am different"
when in an emotion-tinged voice he said racing with Mark
was something he cherished the same way he did battling his
father to an IROC checkered flag in June.
"I used to go to races at Bristol and watch Mark drive the
Stroh's Light car around there," said Junior, whose victory
in Richmond, Va., was his sixth this season. "I know about as
much about him as I do my old man as far as racing goes."
He's thrilled just to race against Mark.
"You're going around the track side by side there at the end
of the race and you look over and you wonder what he thinks,"
Junior said. "You wonder what he thinks about you ... if he's
impressed or surprised."In the celebrated IROC event at Michigan Speedway, Junior
actually nosed his car ahead of his front-running father on
the final turn. But Dale Sr. -- as he has been wont to do
throughout his career as "The Intimidator" -- bumped him
twice to preserve the victory.
In Richmond, Earnhardt Jr. said he bumped Mark a few times
while trailing, "just enough to get him looking in the mirror
a little more than he was," but otherwise approached the
duel like a student racing his mentor.
"Mark races me clean," Junior said. "I have a lot of
respect for him, so I race him the same way because I
certainly don't want to lose that respect."Mark is almost universally revered among drivers for his
fair-minded style. And his frequent appearances in the Busch
series are viewed by many BGN regulars as an opportunity to
race with and learn from one of the sport's greatest
competitors.
"It winds up being a tool ... because it's where I can give
an example of what I'm about ... at almost all costs, do the
right thing," said Mark, sixth among active drivers with
30 career Winston Cup victories. "The best man with the
right opportunity should win."
Mark, with a record 39 Busch victories, has raced against
Junior for the last two years and admires him despite being
16 years his senior."I think that he's just a really fine young man and that Dale Earnhardt should be proud, not only of his racing ability or success but the person that he is," Mark said. "I've watched him grow up from a distance and he's pretty smart, and he's very patient for what he is and what he's doing and his experience level.
"He couldn't possibly be doing a better job."
Junior said he finds paint-trading acceptable when the other driver gets physical, but that Mark's approach is to be admired as well.
"He's not going to run into the side of you, he can guarantee you that," Junior said. "He'll spin out before he does that, I think. He's just that kind of guy."
