DOVER, Del. — Awash in red, white and blue, NASCAR raced for the first time since the terrorist attacks. And one of America's favorite drivers — Dale Earnhardt Jr. — won the Cal Ripken Jr. 400.

        Adding another special touch to the dramatic day, Earnhardt's car is No.8, the same number Ripken has worn throughout his record-setting career with baseball's Baltimore Orioles. The $3.3 million race was renamed in honor of Ripken, who waved the green flag to start the event.

        A crowd of 140,000, the largest in the nation Sunday, cheered ecstatically as Earnhardt won for the second time this season. He has become an icon in the sport since the death of his father, Dale Sr., in the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.

        “It was so exciting to see the emotion of the fans,” Earnhardt said. “It's amazing how everybody has come together after what has happened the last two weeks.

        “I'm just proud to be an American.”

        Earnhardt's car, carrying a large flag deal on its rear decklid, dominated much of the race usually known as the MBNA 400. He led 193 of its 400 laps, and by donating $100 per lap gave $40,000 to aid a relief fund for victims of the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

        Earnhardt, 26, dominated the first half of the race, but lost seven positions with a very slow pit stop on lap 269. But he got a break when leader Ricky Rudd was hit by Rusty Wallace and spun on lap 345.

        Earnhardt came out of the pits third on lap 347, passed Jerry Nadeau and took the lead when he blew by Dale Jarrett on the high-banked third turn on lap 362.

        The crowd rose to its feet, screaming with delight, and Earnhardt didn't disappoint them, withstanding a final caution that bunched the field when Jarrett spun on lap 388.

        Earnhardt pulled away and won for the fourth time in his career. His Chevrolet beat that of Nadeau by 1.576 seconds, and Earnhardt was given a huge flag and drove around the track Jeremy Mayfield crashed hard into the first-turn wall early in the race, was examined at Bay Hill Hospital and released.

       1. (3) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 400 laps, $168,858.
       2. (41) Jerry Nadeau, Chevrolet, 400, $106,960.
       3. (4) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 400, $117,507.
       4. (23) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 400, $117,832.
       5. (11) Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 400, $89,270.
       6. (14) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 400, $102,167.
       7. (16) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 400, $85,735.
       8. (26) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 400, $73,025.
       9. (18) Casey Atwood, Dodge, 400, $53,565.
       10. (17) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet, 400, $66,765.
       11. (15) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 400, $92,305.
       12. (1) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 400, $98,142.
       13. (39) Jimmy Spencer, Ford, 400, $65,585.
       14. (19) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 400, $73,576.
       15. (9) Todd Bodine, Ford, 399, $51,665.
       16. (24) Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, 399, $53,655.
       17. (33) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 398, $81,095.
       18. (13) Ken Schrader, Pontiac, 398, $59,125.
       19. (29) John Andretti, Dodge, 398, $82,792.
       20. (30) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 398, $83,939.
       21. (22) Jeff Burton, Ford, 398, $90,111.
       22. (6) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 397, $73,358.
       23. (34) Mike Wallace, Ford, 396, $54,865.
       24. (12) Stacy Compton, Dodge, 396, $46,615.
       25. (31) Hut Stricklin, Ford, 396, $44,340.
       26. (5) Ricky Craven, Ford, 395, $56,290.
       27. (32) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 394, $43,140.
       28. (35) Brett Bodine, Ford, 391, suspension, $45,465.
       29. (40) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 390, $50,815.
       30. (10) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 383, $67,888.
       31. (37) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 317, crash, $50,490.
       32. (38) Mark Martin, Ford, 314, $86,681.
       33. (25) Ward Burton, Dodge, 304, crash, $75,315.
       34. (8) Ron Hornaday Jr, Pontiac, 268, crash, $42,005.
       35. (42) Dave Blaney, Dodge, 266, crash, $41,855.
       36. (2) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 258, $94,152.
       37. (28) Robert Pressley, Ford, 228, crash, $49,600.
       38. (20) Buckshot Jones, Dodge, 203, engine, $49,475.
       39. (27) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 199, crash, $51,350.
       40. (36) Andy Houston, Ford, 165, crash, $41,200.
       41. (43) Kurt Busch, Ford, 115, engine failure, $49,075.
       42. (7) Jeremy Mayfield, Ford, 54, crash, $80,234.
       43. (21) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 13, engine failure, $41,076.

        Time of race: 3 hours, 56 minutes, 19 seconds.

        Margin of victory: 1.576 seconds.

        Caution flags: 11 for 71 laps.

        Lead changes: 13 among 7 drivers.

        Lap leaders: D.Jarrett 0; B.Labonte 1; D.Jarrett 2; D.Earnhardt Jr 3-26; R.Craven 27-41; D.Earnhardt Jr 42-56; R.Rudd 57-64; D.Earnhardt Jr 65-168; E.Sadler 169; T.Stewart 170-172; D.Earnhardt Jr 173-183; R.Rudd 184-344; D.Jarrett 345-361; D.Earnhardt Jr 362-400.

        Driver standings: J.Gordon, 3,928; R.Rudd, 3,716; T.Stewart, 3,516; D. Jarrett, 3,507; S.Marlin, 3,444; D.Earnhardt Jr, 3,429; K.Harvick, 3,380; R.Wallace, 3,355; B.Labonte, 3,327; J.Benson, 3,168.

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