EA Sports 500 - Talladega Superspeedway

Earnhardt Jr. Tames Talladega
Much like his father did in this race last season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the EA Sports 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and collected a cool million dollar bonus. Earnhardt Jr. and teammate Michael Waltrip set the tone for much of the day, with Earnhardt leading 67 of the event's 188 laps and Waltrip leading 52 circuits. Earnhardt's win was his second restrictor-plate victory of the season and his third overall. Dale Earnhardt Inc. won three of the four plate races this season, with Chevrolet winning all four. Tony Stewart followed Junior to the checkered flag to come home in second place, while Jeff Burton finished third. Matt Kenseth and Bobby Hamilton, the winner of the spring Talladega race, rounded out the top five.
Note: Two hours following the victory, NASCAR announced that the No. 8 Budweiser car was approximately 1/8 inch below the minimum height at the roof line. The car had passed pre-race inspection, but did not pass the post-race test. Any penalties will be announced tomorrow (Monday) by NASCAR. Historically, a violation of this nature results in a fine for the team, but does not impact the victory.

Talladega Pole Belongs to Compton
Stacy Compton brought out his broom Friday at Talladega. Compton grabbed the pole position for the EA Sports 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, sweeping the top-starting spot for both events at the Alabama track this season. Compton also gave Dodge a sweep of pole positions for all four restrictor plate races in 2001. Compton averaged 185.240 mph, a lap time of 51.695 seconds, in his trek around the 2.66 mile track. Bobby Hamilton, who won the spring race at Talladega, will start from the outside pole, followed by Sterling Marlin and Johnny Benson in row two.