Earnhardt Will Try Again to Win His Race With Time : Auto racing: Five-time Winston Cup champion will seek first Daytona 500 victory in 14 attempts today.

It is not that Dale Earnhardt doesn’t know what it takes to win at Daytona International Speedway. He has won 16 races there--three of them last week.

Earnhardt has won five Winston Cup championships, but there is that glaring absence in his racing portfolio: No Daytona 500 victory.

Today, before more than 130,000, Earnhardt will try for the 14th time to win the most prestigious race in his sport.

“I come down here every year, excited and anticipating having a shot to win this race,” Earnhardt said. “This is the race all these guys want to win, there’s not another one like it. Everybody says it’s the World Series or the Super Bowl of Winston Cup racing, and there’s no arguing with that.”

Earnhardt has been intimidating during Speedweeks this year, as he has in the past. He ran away with the Goody’s 300 Busch Grand National race for the fifth time Saturday. On Friday he stole an IROC victory from Ricky Rudd and Harry Gant with a daring move in the final couple of hundred yards. And Thursday he won one of the 125-mile qualifying races in a tense finish against Mark Martin’s Ford.

“Winning the qualifier the way we did really pumped me up for Sunday’s race,” he said. “Getting by Mark (Martin) and then holding him off meant a lot to me because I figure he’s got the strongest car in the race.

“The Fords are stronger, but the Chevys are the best handling and Daytona’s a handling track. Having a good Daytona 500 is very important, even if you don’t win, because it sort of sets the tone for the season. Each race is a piece of the puzzle for the championship, and you don’t want to start the game with anything less than a fifth-place piece.

“I know how to find Victory Lane at Daytona, I’ve been there plenty of times, but something always seems to happen in the 500. Two years ago, I needed binoculars to see pieces (of debris) on the track. Year before that, I needed a couple of more cups of fuel, and last year I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

In 1989 Earnhardt appeared on the verge of winning when he and other front-running cars made their final fuel stop. All but one, that is. Darrell Waltrip gambled on making it without stopping, and won.

In 1990, Earnhardt led 155 of the first 199 laps when one of his tires was cut on the final lap and he slowed enough in the fourth turn that he was passed by winner Derrike Cope.

Last year, Earnhardt was chasing leader Ernie Irvan, racing side-by-side with pole-sitter Davey Allison with two laps to go, when the two of them collided and both went spinning off the track.

“I could just as easily have three wins instead of still looking for my first one,” Earnhardt said, “but like I said in ‘90, it’s the Daytona 500, not the Daytona 499 or 498.”

Earnhardt’s victories here, in addition to the three this year, have included the Pepsi 400 Winston Cup race in 1990, Twin 125 qualifying races in 1983, 1986, 1990 and 1991, the Busch Clash in 1980, 1986, 1988 and 1991, and four Busch Grand Nationals.

Two Fords owned by Junior Johnson, driven by pole-sitter Sterling Marlin and two-time Daytona 500 winner Bill Elliott, will start on the front row today but Earnhardt, who will drive a Chevrolet Lumina, expects another Ford, the one driven by Martin, to be the best.

“Mark’s car was strong, real strong (Thursday), and he’s had more time to tune it in practice and I expect him to be even stronger (today),” Earnhardt said.

Martin, who lost the Winston Cup championship to Earnhardt in the year’s final race two seasons ago, agrees.

“We are ready, I mean we are really ready,” Martin said Saturday. “We have been good from the day we unloaded, which basically means we have had a lot of power from our engines and the car was handling. This is, by far, the best shot we have ever had at doing something really special at Daytona.”

Elliott, voted most popular driver for the sixth time last year, and Johnson have won the Daytona 500, Elliott in 1985 and 1987 with his family team and Johnson as a driver in 1960 and as a car owner in 1969 with LeeRoy Yarbrough and in 1977 with Cale Yarborough.

Elliott won the second qualifier last Thursday with relative ease. He has a habit of winning from the pole, doing it in both of his 500 victories here. Today he is not on the pole, but is on the front row and could get the jump on Marlin going into the first turn.

Marlin, who inherited second place last year after Earnhardt and Allison collided while chasing Irvan, is seeking his first Winston Cup victory in 219 starts. It may be a family trait. His father, Coo Coo Marlin, drove in 165 without winning.

“We’re pleased with the way things have gone, except for getting knocked out of the 125 by Earnhardt, but we’ve got our qualifying engine ready for the 500,” Marlin said. “We saved it for the big race and used another one last Thursday.”

Marlin, who won the pole with a speed of 192.213 m.p.h., has an extra incentive. If he wins he will earn an additional $182,400 for winning from the pole. It was been 23 races since anyone accomplished that feat.

“We’re tickled to death the way things worked out with Bill and Sterling,” Johnson said. “We’re going to be a tough team to beat from here on. Bill has brought us experience and know-how. He knows how to win. That’s what we want. He fits right into our mold.”

Today’s race will also be the last Daytona 500 for Richard Petty, who has won it seven times. Petty, who announced his retirement in October, will race in all 29 Winston Cup races this season.

“The thing’ll probably build all year long, but there’s something special about this being my last Daytona 500,” Petty said Saturday. “I’d like to do well, but I always like to do well. You just don’t know what’s going to happen in 500 miles.

“We changed our strategy this year. The last couple of years, we’ve had good qualifying races and not done much in the 500. This time he didn’t last long in the 125, so we’re looking forward to a good 500.”

Petty was involved in a seven-car crash early in his qualifying heat and will be in a backup Pontiac today. Because of the accident, he will start in the 16th row.