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NASCAR Winston Cup Pepsi 400 Preview -- #3, Dale Earnhardt

1 July 1997

 #3 Dale Earnhardt, GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
 Pepsi 400
 Daytona International Speedway
 
      EARNHARDT BY THE NUMBERS AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
 
 
DAYTONA BEACH, FL -
 
       93: Number of races he has started at Daytona International Speedway.
       29: Number of races he was won at Daytona International Speedway.
        2: Number of Pepsi 400 wins.
   10,127: Number of event laps possible in which Earnhardt has competed.
    8,938: Number of laps completed by Earnhardt.
      88%: Percentage of laps completed.
   22,345: Number of competition miles completed.
     10.6: Average starting position in Pepsi 400.
     11.4: Average finishing position in Pepsi 400.
$3,350,009: Money won at Daytona International Speedway
 
 - Returning to Daytona for the first time since February, Earnhardt and the
GM Goodwrench Service team had one of their best runs of the season. They're
looking for a repeat performance with some minor changes. Leading 49 laps
until lap 188 when Earnhardt went tumbling down the backstretch after scraping
the wall and sending his Monte Carlo sliding on the roof.
 
- Coming to the halfway point of the season, the GM Goodwrench Service Plus
team is currently sixth in the Winston Cup standings. The last time they
entered the second half of the season out of the top-3 in points was in 1992.
They were 5th, 252 points behind, and ended the season with a disappointed
12th place. Last July, the GM Goodwrench Service Plus team left Daytona Beach
leading the Winston Cup points standings.
 
QUOTES:
 
"Our superspeedway program has always been strong. We've never won the Daytona
500 but we've won just about everything else," said Earnhardt. "We need a win
and if I could choose a place where I feel our chances are more than good, it
would be Daytona."
 
"We left Daytona disappointed, having run as good as we did then see it all go
away in a split second," said Childress. "The momentum hasn't come back our
way since then and now I feel it's time to change."
 
"It seems like everything has gone downhill since lap 188 here in February,"
said Larry McReynolds. "We haven't been able to get back on track since then.
I hope that coming back will give us what we need."

By Champion Sports Group