THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060599
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 63 lines
When Ron Hornaday Jr. won the NASCAR truck series championship Sunday in Las Vegas, Dale Earnhardt was on hand to spray champagne on him in victory lane.
Earnhardt was in great spirits, as if to demonstrate that any championship is better than none at all, even if it's not a Winston Cup title.
Earnhardt held the Winston Cup points lead from Martinsville in April through the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July. At the end of July, he was leading the DieHard 500 at Talladega when he broke his shoulder and sternum in one of the worst crashes of his career, effectively ending his bid for a record eighth title.
`That's all over and done with,'' he said. ``The wreck should have never happened . . . but it did.''
Earnhardt said the crash ``affected everything - practice, setup, qualifying - the whole thing.''
But he added, ``It just was a tough year. . . . I'm not going to hold that wreck responsible for my failure to win the championship. . . . If we had survived some races like Bristol and Darlington and some races we crashed and got in trouble in, we'd have been OK.''
Earnhardt's car owner, Richard Childress, blames the wreck.
``Let the record speak for itself from Talladega on in,'' Childress said. ``You look at the record of where we were before, and where we are afterwards. suddenly you're on your top.''
The big question for Earnhardt in 1997 seems to be how he will adapt to a two-car team. Some observers believe Earnhardt is such an individualist, the two-car operation with Mike Skinner as the second driver will eventually break his bond with Childress.
Childress was asked if he could make the two-car team work.
``I think so,'' he said. ``I think a lot of its going to be how everybody working for me wants to make it work.''
THE OTHER POINTS RACES: Terry Labonte, who leads Jeff Gordon in the Winston Cup championship by 47 points, isn't the only driver who will be watching his back Sunday in the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt, in fourth place, is only 35 points ahead of Mark Martin. Rusty Wallace is tucked in seventh place, but another bad outing like he had at Phoenix (40th place ) could send him plummeting.
He's only 19 points ahead of Sterling Marlin in ninth place and 99 ahead of Bobby Hamilton in 10th. Hamilton's position isn't secure, either. In fact, there could be a shakeup from 10th through 15th place.
Hamilton is 17 points ahead of Ken Schrader in 11th and 79 ahead of Bobby Labonte and Michael Waltrip, who are tied for 12th. Ted Musgrave is nine points behind Labonte and Waltrip, while Jeff Burton (15th) is one behind Musgrave.
HOT 'N' NOT: Hamilton has been one of the hottest drivers in the stretch run. Now 10th after his first career victory, he was 16th following the Southern 500 at Darlington.
The coldest has been Ken Schrader, who was seventh with five races to go. He's now 11th.
The most consistent has been Mark Martin, who has finished ninth or better in 14 straight races, moving from 11th to 5th. by CNB