Earnhardt Slowed, Not Stopped in Victory

Dale Earnhardt was slowed by two penalties Sunday, but they didn’t stop him from winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the second consecutive year.

NASCAR officials penalized Earnhardt 15 seconds for exceeding the 55-m.p.h. speed limit on pit road on Lap 220 and one lap for rough driving when his Chevrolet Lumina tapped Greg Sacks’ Ford in the rear bumper on Lap 328 of the 400-lap event, causing a crash that brought out a caution flag and tightened up the field.

At the time of the crash, Earnhardt was trying to catch up with Dale Jarrett.

Earnhardt raced his way out of the penalties and led the final 39 laps to win by 4.1 seconds over rookie Jeff Gordon with an average speed of 145.504 m.p.h., an event record.