NASCAR Victory in Texas Is First for Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt choked up again.

The normally stone-faced “Intimidator,” who became emotional in February when he finally won the Daytona 500, turned soft-hearted this time when his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., won the Busch Grand National Coca-Cola 300 at Fort Worth on Saturday for his first NASCAR victory.

“Daddy, I love you to death,” Dale Jr. said on the two-way radio shortly after taking the checkered flag at the Texas Motor Speedway.

The victory was worth $66,075, but the significance was priceless. It made the Earnhardt family a three-generation winner on the circuit and it proved that 23-year-old Dale Jr. can carry on the tradition begun by grandfather Ralph Earnhardt and continued by his father.

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Jeremy Mayfield zoomed to the pole position for today’s Texas 500 Winston Cup race. He clocked 185.906 mph at the Texas Motor Speedway, more than 1 mph faster than the rest of the field. . . . Rick Crawford held off a late charge from Jack Sprague at Homestead, Fla., to win the Florida Dodge Dealers 400, his first victory in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. . . . Gary Scelzi, Cruz Pedregon, Warren Johnson and Angelle Seeling topped qualifying in Rockingham Dragway’s 10th Winston Invitational, NHRA’s $650,000 all-star race at Rockingham, N.C.

Tennis

Third-seeded Monica Seles was upset by ninth-seeded Irina Spirlea of Romania, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), in the Family Circle tournament in Hilton Head, S.C.

Spirlea will face No. 4 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over 15th-seeded Lisa Raymond, for the title.

College Sports

Josh Langfeld scored the game-winner 17:51 into overtime at Boston to give Michigan a 3-2 victory over Boston College and a record ninth NCAA hockey championship. No other school has more than six.

Mark Kosick scored both goals in regulation for Michigan (32-11-1), the second to tie the score with 6:12 left and send the game into overtime. Marty Turco stopped 27 shots for the win. Mike Lephart and Kevin Caulfield scored for B.C. (27-9-5).

It’s only spring, but USC tailback Chad Morton looked as if he is ready for fall in an intrasquad scrimmage at Howard Jones Field.

The first time he was handed the ball, Morton ran 65 yards for a touchdown in front of a crowd of about 1,000 who came out despite a constant rain to watch the Trojans run 69 plays.

If weather permits, two events between USC and Stanford that were washed out Saturday will be held today beginning at noon on the USC campus. The Trojan and Cardinal baseball teams will play a doubleheader at Dedeaux Field. The other makeup event is a tennis match between the schools’ women’s teams.

UCLA and Cal will play a baseball doubleheader beginning at noon.

The Pacific 10 Conference represented by USC and Arizona dominated the “Pac-10/Big Ten” track meet hosted by USC on a cold, rainy day at Cromwell Field.

USC’s Torri Edwards won the women’s 100 and 200 meters, and the Trojans’ Natasha Danvers won the two hurdles races.

Horse Racing

Earth Summit, the 7-1 favorite, won a trouble-marred Grand National at Liverpool, England. Only six of 37 starters finished and three died. The racing world’s most famous steeplechase is a merciless test of stamina with 30 treacherous jumps over 4.5 miles.

Miscellany

A team of Jon Drummond, Maurice Greene, Ato Boldon and Danny McCray ran the fastest 400-meter relay time in the world this year--38.42 seconds--at the Texas Relays in Austin.

Fresh off a record-setting deal with Levon Kirkland, the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to a four-year deal with linebacker Jason Gildon that will pay him almost $9 million.

Amanda Beard of Irvine finished fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke Saturday at the national swimming championships in Minneapolis. Beard finished in 1 minute 11.02 seconds, well behind Megan Quann, of Puyallup, Wash., who won in 1:09.42.

Tom Dolan and Ashley Tappin each won their third titles, Dolan in the 400 freestyle, Tappin in the 100 butterfly.

Sara Reiling of L’equipe Diving Club of Irvine finished third in the women’s one-meter finals Saturday at the Senior National Diving preliminaries in Federal Way, Wash.

She scored 435.35 points. Carrie Ziebarth won with 470.90 points. Hunter Shafer, also with L’equipe, finished third in the men’s three-meter finals with 543.95 points. Kevin McMahon of the Trojan Dive Club finished first with 605.10.

Reiling and Hunter qualify for the Senior National Championships, April 13-19, in Indianapolis.

Other county competitors Saturday included Tiffany Manning (Mission Viejo Nadadores), who finished 12th in the women’s one-meter finals; Lee Brennan (Capistrano Valley Divers), who finished seventh in the men’s three-meter finals, and Ray Vincent (Nadadores), who was 13th in the men’s three-meter finals.