Earnhardt at Home in Daytona : Auto racing: Victory in a dash competition is his sixth in nine starts in the Speed Weeks event.

The Busch Clash is a race made for Dale Earnhardt--two dashes of 25 miles on a high-banked superspeedway.

The seven-time Winston Cup champion has been in nine, and Sunday at Daytona International Raceway he won his sixth. It was the 23rd time he had taken the checkered flag at Daytona--but none have been in the Daytona 500, next Sunday’s climax to NASCAR’s Speed Weeks.

Uncharacteristically, Earnhardt lost the first 10-lap segment when his Chevrolet Monte Carlo bobbled off the second turn of the final lap, allowing Jeff Gordon and Sterling Marlin to sweep past.

Earnhardt started ninth in the second sprint and in less than two laps, the black No. 3 was in the lead. This time there would be no bobble as he led a four-car parade that included Marlin, Bill Elliott and Gordon. Earnhardt averaged 188.482 m.p.h. for the 50 miles.

“I thought it would be tough drafting back up through there, but (team owner) Richard Childress said try to lead every lap if I could, so that’s what I tried to do,” he said.

Marlin, who moved from ninth in one heat and 11th in the second to finish second both times, said it helped to follow Earnhardt.

“Dale’s a hell of a driver, but the other guys seem to get out of his way better when he comes up through there,” Marlin said. “We caught the seams just right and zigzagged through the holes.”

Earnhardt also credited his close friend, the late Neil Bonnett, with contributing to the victory.

“Neil Bonnett’s legacy carries on,” Earnhardt said. “He did the first testing with the Monte Carlo two years ago, and everything he did is real important for our team. All the work he did, and we did in the off-season, paid off today.”

Earnhardt collected $57,000, bringing to $445,000 the amount he has won in this unique race for the previous season’s pole winners. Marlin got $42,500 and Gordon $42,000.

“The Busch Clash was a good test for us,” Gordon said. “We learned a lot for Thursday’s (twin 125-mile qualifying races). We learned that if it comes down to the last lap, it’s going to be very difficult to pass. The guy who’s leading is going to be hard to beat.”

A first-lap accident in the first heat took Mark Martin and Greg Sachs out of the race. Martin’s Ford got out of control heading into the third turn and bumped Sachs, knocking his Pontiac spinning against the wall and into the infield grass.

Sachs’ car was not only severely damaged, but the accident uncovered an illegality that cost crew chief Jeff Hammond a $5,000 fine and indefinite probation. When the car was being towed away, 15 pounds of loose metal was discovered in the driver’s compartment in violation of NASCAR rules.

Hammond was the third Winston Cup crew chief to be fined and placed on probation in the last three days.

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Andy Hillenburg drove the final three laps under caution after a spectacular accident Sunday to win the 32nd annual ARCA 200 in Ken Schrader’s Chevrolet. It was the Indianapolis driving instructor’s first ARCA victory and the second in a row for car owner Schrader.

The caution flag was caused when Andy Belmont and Bobby Bowsher collided on the backstretch, sending Belmont up on top of Bowsher’s car before it began cartwheeling and tumbling end over end for several hundred yards.

Neither driver was injured.