AUTO RACING ROUNDUP : Earnhardt Dominates TranSouth

DARLINGTON, S.C. —  Dale Earnhardt is well aware of the pitfalls at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR’s oldest and most treacherous superspeedway.

A conservative approach and racing luck helped Earnhardt win Sunday’s TranSouth 500, his second consecutive Winston Cup victory.

“We just stayed out of trouble really; raced the racetrack; tried to get the car to do what we wanted it to do,” Earnhardt said after holding off Mark Martin. “I felt good all day.

“We dodged that one big wreck off of (turn) four . . . We just sort of raced the racetrack and remembered where we were, remembered that shady wall down there (in turn three) that can jump out and get you at any time.”

Earnhardt, who has won twice, finished second, fifth and 10th so far this season, outdueled Morgan Shepherd and then Martin late in the race to earn his 41st victory and add to his season point lead.

Geoff Bodine, who set a track record in winning the pole for the 367-lap race on the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway oval, appeared to be the man to beat in the early going, but badly damaged the rear of his car in a 14-car crash past the halfway point.

Bodine, who led five times for 154 laps, wound up coming back to finish fourth, just behind Davey Allison and barely ahead of Shepherd and Harry Gant.

Earnhardt, who has won five of the last nine Winston Cup races here, including last fall’s Southern 500, dominated the last part of the race.

The 37-year-old three-time Winston Cup champion led five times for 129 laps--including the final 18.

Shepherd, second in season points, never completely recovered from brushing the second-turn wall on lap 325.

“I slipped up against the wall,” Shepherd said. “When I did that, my car wouldn’t turn any more. It kept pushing.”

Earnhardt, who averaged 124.073 m.p.h., earned $61,985.

The 14-car crash began when the lapped car of Ernie Irvan bumped then-leader Ken Schrader at the front of the field shortly after a restart had bunched the field on lap 212.

Most of the leaders got through, but Bodine, Martin, Sterling Marlin, Michael Waltrip and Rudd, all in the top 10 at the time, were involved. All of them were able to continue after repairs except Marlin.

Geoff Brabham took over the IMSA Camel GT championship points lead by teaming with Derek Daly of Ireland for an easy victory in the Grand Prix of Atlanta sports car race.

It was Brabham’s third victory at Road Atlanta. Brabham and Daly won $30,000 and averaged 112.288 m.p.h. for the 124 laps around the 2.52-mile road course.