Earnhardt master of Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. narrowly avoided an early crash and charged from behind Sunday to win the Aaron's 499, becoming the first driver to win four straight races at Talladega Superspeedway.

Earnhardt, who led nine times for 34 laps in a race in which there was a total of 43 lead changes among 16 drivers, fought off challenges at the end from Jimmie Johnson, Ward Burton and Matt Kenseth.

He fought his way into the lead twice in the last four laps, once with a controversial pass below the yellow line on the track apron.

"That was some of the hardest racing I've seen here in a long time," Earnhardt said.

The 28-year-old son of the late Dale Earnhardt, the career leader at Talladega with 10 Winston Cup victories, came up with his first win of the season and the eighth of his career.

Sunday's win broke the record of three in a row on the 2.66-mile oval, set in 1975 and 1976 by Buddy Baker.

"There ain't too many (drivers) ever won four races here, period," Earnhardt said. "I'm stepping into some awful big shoes."

NASCAR requires carburetor restrictor plates at Talladega and Daytona, its two longest and fastest ovals. The plates sap horsepower and produce huge drafts up to four-cars wide in which a multi-car wreck -- sometimes called "The Big One" -- is virtually inevitable.

The crowd of more than 160,000 didn't have long to wait Sunday. A deflated tire sent Ryan Newman's car into the fourth-turn wall on the fifth lap around the high-banked oval and ignited a 27-car accident in the second turn of the fifth of 188 laps.

There were no injuries, but the crash took out or damaged the cars of a number of possible contenders, including Earnhardt, who started at the back of the 43-car field after his DEI team changed his engine after Saturday's final practice.

The No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet had to drive through the infield grass to avoid a worse fate, and it took his crew numerous pit stops and nearly half the race to repair the left front of the car enough to get the prerace favorite back to the front of the pack.

At one point in the early going, Earnhardt had lost the lead pack and was facing the possibility of being lapped until debris on the track brought out another of the six cautions and allowed him to pit for more adjustments.

Earnhardt beat Kevin Harvick's Chevy to the finish line by 0.125-seconds -- about 1 1/2 car-lengths.

Elliott Sadler was third, followed by Ricky Craven, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Burton and Jeff Gordon.

Brazilian Grand Prix

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Kimi Raikkonen of Finland won the shortened Brazilian Grand Prix after the race on a rain-drenched track was stopped because of spinouts and crashes.

-- From wire reports