Earnhardt Ends Slump

Dale Earnhardt Jr. found the perfect cure for his struggling team’s ills: Winning.

Earnhardt ended a six-week slump Saturday night with a convincing victory in the Sharpie 500, giving him a weekend sweep at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee that will certainly give him momentum for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series championship chase.

Almost completely healed from burns he suffered last month in a non-NASCAR wreck, Earnhardt led 295 of the 500 laps in his Chevrolet. He can put the trophy next to the one he earned Friday night for winning his first Busch Series race.

He beat Ryan Newman to the finish line in a Nextel Cup race that didn’t shake up the championship standings as much as had been predicted.

Newman, fighting to become eligible for NASCAR’s 10-race championship chase, moved into contention by jumping three spots to the cutoff position of 10th. It came at the expense of rookie Kasey Kahne, who finished 21st and fell to 11th.

It was Earnhardt who made the loudest statement by pulling off a victory when almost everyone -- including himself -- had written off the team.

“Man, we needed this,” he said. “This is one of the biggest wins of my career, we were struggling, and you’re going to have that.

“You can’t be No. 1 all the time. That’s what makes it sweeter.”

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Jarno Trulli is the only driver to defeated Formula One points leader Michael Schumacher this season. On Saturday, the Renault driver beat Schumacher for the pole in today’s Belgian Grand Prix, hoping to repeat his triumph of three months ago in Monaco, where he also claimed the pole en route to his victory.

Trulli beat the odds in qualifying in sporadic rain at Spa-Francorchamps, and he’ll need more good fortune today to defeat the Ferrari driver who has won six times at Spa -- his favorite circuit.

Schumacher doesn’t even have to win on this hilly, historic track in the Ardennes to claim an unprecedented seventh drivers’ title. All he needs is to finish two points ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello -- the only driver with a chance to overtake him -- to complete the Ferrari sweep.

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Helio Castroneves won the pole position for the final event at Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania.

The defending champion hopes to present car owner Roger Penske with a victory today in the Indy Racing League’s Firestone Indy 225. Penske built the track in 1986 but later merged his racing facilities with those of International Speedway Corp. ISC said in May that the mile oval would close after this season.

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Champ Car points leader Sebastien Bourdais won the pole position for today’s Montreal Molson Indy -- his sixth pole of the season and third in a row. Bourdais drove a lap averaging 122.062 mph on his final qualifying run to edge surprising rookie A.J. Allmendinger, who was second at 121.492 mph.

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Rip Michels of San Fernando returned to the victory stand as he took the 75-lap Lucas Oil Super Late Model series, but Greg Pursley claimed the series title with a 10th-place finish at Irwindale Speedway in front of approximately 4,000 fans.

Michels’ victory was his first of the year and 38th at the track, the most by one driver. Brandon Loverock finished second and Travis Bennett was third. Pursley was involved in an accident that involved 11 cars early in the race but was able to return before the restart.

In the 50-lap NAPA Auto Parts Super Truck series feature, Joe Herold earned his second victory by holding off Pat Mintey Jr. In the 35-lap Mini Stock series feature, Greg Tucker earned his sixth victory while his closest competitor, Dustin Morgan, was unable to start the race and fell out of second place.

Tony Solorzano contributed to this report.