Auto Racing

Dale Earnhardt will win $1 million for his fifth Winston Cup driver’s award when he takes the green flag today in the Hardee’s 500 NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

After several races in which team owner Richard Childress chose to use underpowered engines and conservative gearing as insurance against having to leave a race early, Earnhardt has no such problem today as he begins the race from the third row.

Second place in the points race, worth $140,000, will be contested by Davey Allison and Ricky Rudd. Allison can finish second in points by finishing anywhere ahead of Rudd in the Atlanta field.

Bill Elliott will start from the pole in his final race for the Elliott team before moving to the Junior Johnson team for next season.