In the last 2 weeks, he has been involved in a mild dispute with teammate Jeff Gordon and a racing collision with Kyle Busch.

Late in the April 27 race at Talladega, Gordon thought Earnhardt wasn't acting like a teammate and helping Gordon move toward the lead.

Before the Richmond race, Earnhardt said: "Had we won the week before and weren't trying to end the streak of [72] losses, I would have been probably a whole lot more apt to work with him. Restrictor-plate racing is difficult, because you want to help your teammates, but you want to win, too."

During testing at Nashville last week, the two made peace. Earnhardt said he told Gordon: "I got nothing but respect for you. I'm the last guy wanting to make any problems."

Said Gordon: "I was mad about it at the time, but it's a nonissue now. I love working with him on the race track and having him as a teammate."

Earnhardt and Busch weren't feeling the love after Richmond. Junior led with three laps remaining and was thisclose to ending his winless streak when contact with Busch's Toyota sent his Chevrolet spinning. Earnhardt slipped to a 16th-place finish. Busch finished second and took the points lead (Earnhardt is third).

Said Busch: "It looked like he came down [on the track] a little bit. It's just part of racing. If I wanted to do it deliberately, I would have waited for the last lap, where I probably could have still won the race."

Since Busch was nudged toward the exit at Hendrick Motorsports last year to make room for Junior, many Earnhardt fans thought Busch seized the moment to bump Earnhardt out of the lead. Busch, now with Joe Gibbs Racing, carries a reputation for aggressive racing. But he denied such an evil motive.

"Everybody is scared to death of wrecking Dale Earnhardt Jr., so why would I be any different?" Busch asked.

Addressing Busch's reputation, Jeff Burton said yesterday on a conference call: "Kyle's been aggressive his whole career. He's been in a few things this year where probably he did push the limit too far, and he would acknowledge that.

"He has always raced me exceptionally clean. The deal [at Richmond] was, he just got loose. He didn't drive in there to intentionally wreck Junior."

Darlington date special

The inaugural Cup series race on NASCAR's first superspeedway was in 1950. Johnny Mantz, driving a Plymouth, won the race, in which 75 cars started.

David Pearson is Darlington's all-time race winner, with 10. The late Dale Earnhardt is runner-up, with nine.

Saturday night's race will be the first since "The Track Too Tough to Tame" was repaved. After testing at the track in March, Jeff Gordon said, "The bumps are gone, the grip level is high and it's awesome."

Said Kyle Petty: "It's a place that I've been going to for a long time. It's one of the few tracks left where me, my father [Richard] and my grandfather [Lee] have all raced. I wish we still went twice a year."

Gordon at Dover

The 46-foot "Miles the Monster" fiberglass structure will tower over a new fan zone at the Delaware track, known as "the Monster Mile."

The ceremony is helping promote the NASCAR weekend May 30-June 1. Fans are invited to attend the ceremony, but Gordon's travel schedule will prevent him from signing autographs.

Dodge Challenger 500

Darlington Raceway

Darlington, S.C.

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

TV/Radio: Fox/WXTU (92.5-FM), WNPV (1440-AM)

Race course: 1.366-mile oval

Race distance: 367 laps/501 miles

Last year's race winner: Jeff Gordon

Last year's pole winner: Clint Bowyer, 164.897 mph

Track qualifying record: Ward Burton, 173.797 mph (March 1996)

Track facts: Jeff Gordon's seven wins at Darlington are the most among active drivers ... Denny Hamlin was runner-up in last year's race; Jimmie Johnson was third ... Greg Biffle won the 2005 and '06 races at Darlington, following Johnson's sweep of the 2004 races, the last year two races a year were held at the track ... Clint Bowyer has climbed from 12th place in points five races ago to fourth ... Following finishes of 38th twice and 41st in the last three races, Matt Kenseth has plummeted to 22nd.

Wins: Carl Edwards, 3; Kyle Busch, 2; Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman, 1 each.

SPRINT CUP POINTS LEADERS

1. Kyle Busch 1495

2. Jeff Burton 1477

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1391

4. Clint Bowyer 1372

5. Kevin Harvick 1350

6. Denny Hamlin 1349

7. Jimmie Johnson 1318

8. Tony Stewart 1297

9. Greg Biffle 1269

10. Carl Edwards 1230

11. Ryan Newman 1212

12. Kasey Kahne 1162

13. Jeff Gordon 1156

14. David Ragan 1106

15. Martin Truex Jr. 1104

16. Juan Montoya 1096

17. Brian Vickers 1073

18. Bobby Labonte 1019

19. Travis Kvapil 1008

20. David Gilliland 980

Up next: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, May 17, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C., 7:30 p.m.; TV: Speed.