Dale Earnhardt Jr. made quick work of a duel with his father, passing him with 31 laps to go in the Pontiac 400 and becoming the first repeat winner on the Winston Cup circuit this season.
Earnhardt Jr., who won at Texas a month ago, passed his father on the inside heading into turn 3 two laps after they emerged from pit stops under caution nose-to-tail, bringing many in the crowd of 100,000 to their feet.
As his father had been prone to do in a career that included seven series championships, the rookie also sparked some controversy by costing Tony Stewart, last year's rookie of the year, a seemingly certain chance to win the race.
Stewart was leading when Mark Martin slammed into the wall on the 361st of 400 laps, bringing out the ninth caution and sending the leaders to the pits.
After getting service, stewart was on his way out of his stall when Earnhardt Jr. rammed the back of his car. The collision flattened Stewart's left rear tire, forcing him to pit again and dropping him to 22nd and out of contention.
"Tony Stewart, I really feel bad about that. He really didn't give me a whole lot of room to get out there," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I hate to cut a tire because he really had a race-winning car. He really had the fastest car here tonight."
On the track, Earnhardt Jr. pulled away briefly but couldn't shake two-time Windton Cup champion Terry Labonte or defending title-holder Dale Jarrett, who closed to within striking in the final laps but could get no closer.
"Dale Jr. did a great job," Jarrett said. "What a driver this kid is."
Earnhardt Jr. became the fist two-time winner in a season that started with a record 10 different winners in the fist 10 races. He led only the final 31 laps and beat Labonte to the finish by 0.159 seconds in a battle of Chevrolets.
Jarrett, the defending race champion, finished thirdt, followed by Virginia native Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, and brothers Ward anb Jeff Burton, also both of Virginia.
The race featured 21 lead changes among nine drivers and nine cautions that slowed the pace for 59 laps. Earnhardt Jr.'s average speed was 99.374 mph.
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