Earnhardt Wins Atlanta Thriller

NASCAR needed an exciting race and got one with Dale Earnhardt holding off Bobby Labonte by less than two feet Sunday to win a wild Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.

Through three relatively boring races this season, Fords and Pontiacs supposedly held an aerodynamic advantage over the new Monte Carlos. But after a rule change last week that allowed the Chevy teams to move their front air dams up to two inches in front of the bumper, there were 30 lead changes among 17 drivers Sunday.

Labonte, who had won four of the previous seven Winston Cup events at Atlanta, trailed Earnhardt by about one car-length as the leaders began their final trip around the 1.54-mile oval at more than 184 mph.

Earnhardt, using most of the racetrack, somehow kept his Chevrolet just ahead of Labonte’s Pontiac to the finish. Labonte pulled alongside on the final lap, but was unable to put his nose in front at the line.

“That was good racing,” Earnhardt said. “That was fun.”

Labonte, who leads the season standings after the first four races, was visibly disappointed.

Also disappointed was Mike Skinner, who blew an engine 20 laps from the end of the 325-lap race. Skinner, Earnhardt’s Richard Childress Racing teammate and winless in 114 races, had led 191 laps up to that point.

Pole-winner Dale Jarrett, the defending series champion, collided with another car on pit row during his first pit stop, then went out of the race on lap 260 with a blown engine. It ended a streak of 36 consecutive races in which Jarrett’s car was running at the finish.

The victory was the 75th of Earnhardt’s career and his ninth--extending his own record--at the Atlanta track.

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Michael Schumacher won the season-opening Formula One race, the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne. Schumacher, sidelined for a portion of last season after breaking his leg in the British Grand Prix, beat new teammate Rubens Barrichello by 11.4 seconds.

Ralf Schumacher, the winner’s younger brother, was third in a Williams BMW. Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was fourth, giving the second-year British American Racing team its first championship points.

Pro Football

The Miami Dolpins were preparing for Dan Marino’s retirement announcement today. A news conference is scheduled for 7 a.m. PST in a meeting room at the team’s training facility in Davie, Fla.

Team officials are expecting a bigger media turnout than for either Don Shula or Jimmy Johnson’s retirement.

“I don’t think the room is big enough, but we have to make do with what it is because we understand Danny wants to low-key it and that was his preference,” said Harvey Greene, the team’s vice president of media relations.

Tennis

Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt won the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz., beating Britain’s Tim Henman, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Hewitt, 19, a finalist last year, won his fifth ATP Tour title and improved to 20-1 in 2000.

Mariano Puerta of Argentina beat second-seeded Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, 6-4, 7-6 (5), to win the Cerveza Club Colombia tournament at Bogota.

John McEnroe won the title match of the Nuveen Champions senior tournament at Naples, Fla., when Henri Leconte retired because of a back injury. McEnroe was leading 6-0, 0-1.

Miscellany

Alfredo La Mont, a former U.S. Olympic Committee official, is expected to plead guilty in federal court to unspecified charges in Salt Lake City’s Olympic bribery scandal, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. La Mont reportedly agreed to cooperate with authorities and enter the plea in return for avoiding indictment by a federal grand jury.

Donna Harris-Lewis, the wife of late Boston Celtic star Reggie Lewis, has dropped her case against two of the four doctors she accused of misdiagnosing her husband’s heart condition. Lewis died in 1993. His widow appealed after a jury had cleared the two doctors in June. She is still pursuing a case against the lead physician, Gilbert Mudge.

Winter Sports

Germany’s Sven Hannawald won his third consecutive ski jumping event in Norway by breaking the Holmenkollen record in a World Cup competition near Oslo. Hannawald, seventh after the first round, clinched it with a 132.5-meter jump that broke the record by a half-meter. It was Hannawald’s fifth win of the season.

Sweden’s Pontus Stahlkloo won all four final heats in a Snowboard Cross event at Sesto-San Candido, Italy, to extend his lead over Australia’s Zeke Steggall in the World Cup standings. Austria’s Claudia Riegler edged her sister, Manuela, to win the women’s title, with World Cup leader Carmen Ranigler of Italy finishing third.

Weightlifting

Cheryl Haworth, 16, continued her domination of American women’s weightlifting by setting three national records at the USA Weightlifting Championships in Frederick, Md. Haworth lifted 120 kilograms (264.6 pounds) in the snatch and 145 kilograms (319.7 pounds) in the clean-and-jerk for a total of 265 kilograms (584.3 pounds), exceeding her own records. Each lift also set American junior marks. Shane Hamman won the super heavyweight men’s title.

Boxing

Alejandro Gonzalez outpointed Steve Forbes at Indio to win the International Boxing Assn. lightweight title late Saturday night. Gonzalez’s body punches in the early rounds against previously unbeaten Forbes took their toll. Gonzalez, the former World Boxing Council featherweight champion, improved to 44-4. Forbes dropped to 14-1.