Dale Earnhardt

INDIANAPOLIS -- Danica Patrick's return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a stock car ended in a hard crash less than halfway through Saturday's Indiana 250. Patrick, the former IndyCar driver who now races in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series, was running about 20th when the top five race leaders made pit stops. Patrick remained on the track and was running behind Reed Sorenson. As the two entered Turn 1 on lap 39 of the 100-lap race, Patrick's No. 7 Chevrolet tapped the back of Sorenson's No. 98 Ford, sending Sorenson into a spin.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday he had no issues with Texas Motor Speedway's decision to have the National Rifle Assn. as the title sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race Saturday night. The track's willingness to hold a race called the NRA 500 amid the heightened national debate over gun-control laws has raised eyebrows. It's also a tradition for the speedway to have the winner fire blanks from two six-shooters in Victory Lane. But Earnhardt, arguably NASCAR's most popular driver, told reporters before testing at the Fort Worth track, "I think it's a good fit for Texas.

INDIANAPOLIS --Dale Earnhardt Jr.  sees no reason why his strong showing this year shouldn't continue during the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, although he didn't qualify particularly well. The popular NASCAR driver has never won at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 12 previous races; his best finish was sixth in 2006. But his No. 88 Chevrolet has been stout this season and the Hendrick Motorsports driver is second in the Sprint Cup Series points standings. "I think I could come in here and probably have my best finish here in quite a while," Earnhardt said before he qualified to start 20th in the 43-car field.

During his remarkable career that includes five consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup titles, Jimmie Johnson has calmly endured an undercurrent of hostility from some fans who find his winning ways, well, a turnoff. But with the help of Twitter, Johnson is firing back at his critics. After winning the Cup race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the eighth time Sunday, Johnson sarcastically tweeted: "You haters have it right. I'm a bad teammate. I have a cheated up car, I'm lucky and the race was fixed.

That Dale Earnhardt perished from the earth on the last turn of the last lap at his favorite race on his favorite track is almost poetic. That he perished while guarding victory for his friend and his son is more than heroic. In life, he transcended his sport. In death, he resides in Valhalla. RHYS THOMAS Van Nuys You must have heard from countless shocked readers by now concerning Dale Earnhardt's appalling lack of judgment in driving a passenger vehicle 60 mph in rain so hard he couldn't see the highway, narrowly averting collision with numerous vehicles stopped in front of him because of the bad visibility ["An Unforgettable Drive," Feb. 20]

The mystery surrounding Dale Earnhardt's health problems at the Southern 500 took a new twist Tuesday when a close aide said the driver twice nodded off at the wheel before the race. The revelation by Don Hawk, president of Dale Earnhardt Inc., came as Earnhardt underwent more hospital tests in an attempt to determine what happened at the start of Sunday's race in Darlington, S.C.

BACKGROUND * Age: 49 * Born: April 29, 1951 * Birthplace: Kannapolis, N.C. * Residence: Mooresville, N.C. * Died: Killed Sunday on the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500 in a crash involving cars driven by Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader. * Career: Known as "The Intimidator" for his aggressive driving style, Earnhardt won seven NASCAR Winston Cup titles to tie Richard Petty's record. Won 76 races, including the 1998 Daytona 500.

It was another rough practice session at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday as drivers in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series prepared their new Gen-6 cars for twin qualifying races Thursday. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran only 11 laps in practice before his engine failed. Ryan Newman lost control of his car when leading Carl Edwards and Mark Martin around the track, with all three cars sustaining damage in the crash. For Martin, it's the third time he's had a car damaged in a crash while preparing for the Daytona 500, which is Sunday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who missed the last two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races with a concussion, will return for Sunday's race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, his Hendrick Motorsports team announced Tuesday. The popular driver was cleared by neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty after Earnhardt drove 123 laps in a Cup car during a test Monday at the half-mile Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga. "Dale Jr. has done everything asked of him" in various tests, Petty said in a statement.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver by a mile, admitted he was anxious and frightened when he first began dealing with a concussion following a crash three weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. But the veteran Sprint Cup racer also said he was glad that he took all the precautionary steps that led to his return to the track this weekend in Martinsville, Va. “Some concussions are really bad, and I don't care how tough you think you are, when your mind is not working the way it is supposed to, it scares the [expletive]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. still hasn't won at Auto Club Speedway, but he left the Fontana track Sunday leading the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. Earnhardt finished second in the Auto Club 400 after the last-lap crash knocked out leaders Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin , giving Earnhardt his fifth top-10 finish in as many races this season. "I was just glad to get through" the wreck "and get a good run," Earnhardt said. "We had a good car all day. " Earnhardt started 15th and struggled at times but rebounded in the closing stages after his Hendrick Motorsports team made adjustments to his No. 88 Chevrolet.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is enjoying one of the strongest starts of his 14-year career, but can the popular NASCAR driver finally win in Southern California? Earnhardt mostly has struggled at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana but might have one of his best opportunities to reach Victory Lane this year as the Sprint Cup Series returns Sunday for the Auto Club 400. Adapting well to the new Gen-6 car used in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Earnhardt is second this season in the title standings, nine points behind leader and reigning Cup champion Brad Keselowski.

AVONDALE, Ariz. - "I'm no health freak," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of his recent effort to eat healthier by cutting down on "stuff like pizza and wings. " "I just think the older you get, the more you have to do to kind of maintain a healthy weight," the popular NASCAR driver said. "Not getting too crazy about it, though. " At 38, Earnhardt is entering his 14th full season in the Sprint Cup Series. He finished second to teammate Jimmie Johnson in the Daytona 500 a week ago, and hopes to extend his strong start Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- As the cars barreled into the final lap, there was a chance the improbable might happen at the Daytona 500. Jimmie Johnson, the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, led the field with Greg Biffle on his tail and Danica Patrick stuck to Biffle's rear bumper. If Patrick could find a way to maneuver around Johnson and Biffle, Patrick would become the first woman to win the sport's crown-jewel race, in only her second attempt. But for as strongly as Patrick ran Sunday, at the end her inexperience showed.

It was another rough practice session at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday as drivers in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series prepared their new Gen-6 cars for twin qualifying races Thursday. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran only 11 laps in practice before his engine failed. Ryan Newman lost control of his car when leading Carl Edwards and Mark Martin around the track, with all three cars sustaining damage in the crash. For Martin, it's the third time he's had a car damaged in a crash while preparing for the Daytona 500, which is Sunday.

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. is Jimmie Johnson's teammate and Brad Keselowski's former boss, so who does Earnhardt see winning this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup? "I think Jimmie is going to win it" for a sixth championship, Earnhardt said Friday. Johnson has "great equipment . . . one of the best crew chiefs in the business" in Chad Knaus, and Johnson "is one of the best drivers in the business. " "It's going to be hard to beat those guys," Earnhardt said. Johnson has a seven-point lead over Keselowski in the title standings with two races left: Sunday's AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway and the season finale a week later at Homestead-Miami (Fla.)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered a concussion in the multicar crash at Sunday's NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway and will miss the next two races, his team Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday. At a news conference in Charlotte, Earnhardt said the concussion at Talladega actually was his second in the last two months, the first having occurred when he crashed during a test session at Kansas several weeks ago. Neurological tests and an MRI exam taken after Talladega were normal, Earnhardt said, but he's sitting out the next two races to avoid further injury.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver by a mile, admitted he was anxious and frightened when he first began dealing with a concussion following a crash three weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. But the veteran Sprint Cup racer also said he was glad that he took all the precautionary steps that led to his return to the track this weekend in Martinsville, Va. “Some concussions are really bad, and I don't care how tough you think you are, when your mind is not working the way it is supposed to, it scares the [expletive]