Field stuck behind 8 car
Earnhardt Jr. dominates race

BY NATE RYAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Sep 07, 2002


BUSCH SERIES
FUNAI 250

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a dominating debut as a Busch Grand National car owner last night.

Driving a No.8 Chevrolet for a team he formed with stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, the 27-year-old led a race-high 190 laps in the caution-plagued FUNAI 250 before a crowd of about 70,000 at Richmond International Raceway.

"First race, first victory," Earnhardt said. "I feel good."

Earnhardt crossed the finish line 1.250 seconds ahead of runner-up Jamie McMurray, but his cushion for most of the 250-lap race was much larger. Starting from the pole, he led the first 75 laps and yielded the point only on pit stops.

South Boston native Jeff Burton finished third, followed by Tony Raines and Jason Keller.

Earnhardt never fell out of the top five, a sterling performance that surprised the driver. He had modest expectations about the startup team's first race.

"Honest to God, we tried not to put too much pressure on the guys," Earnhardt said. "A victory wasn't the ultimate goal this weekend. We just wanted everyone to try to improve themselves and work together."

The team provided Earnhardt with a car that built leads of more than a dozen seconds with ease.

"The car would do absolutely anything I wanted it to do," Earnhardt said. "I don't know how they built such a great race car.

"I think you could have taken any driver in the field and done that good with it."

The third Busch victory and fourth overall at RIR by Earnhardt left his competitors admittedly running for runner-up.

"I had the fastest car I ever had, and I had no chance of running with him," said McMurray, whose second place was a career best. "I didn't think anybody could run with [Earnhardt] all night. He did a great job."

Earnhardt might have lapped the field if not for a record-tying 11 caution flags for 83 laps. Only eight drivers finished on the lead lap.

The biggest wreck occurred on Lap 68 when Derrike Cope's Chevrolet slammed into the Turn 1 wall at full speed. Cope was transported to Memorial Regional Medical Center for X-rays on an injured right shoulder, and the accident brought out a red flag for nearly 16 minutes.

Two Virginia drivers endured tough nights. Mechanicsville's Kevin Grubb finished last after getting caught in a four-car accident on Lap 2.

Ashton Lewis Jr. of Chesapeake finished 35th after his Chevrolet backed into the wall following a collision with Jack Sprague. Lewis scrambled out of the car after it became engulfed in flames.

Greg Biffle finished sixth, maintaining a 78-point lead over Keller in the championship standings.