THE MAN OUT FRONT; Dale Earnhardt Jr. again rules Talladega to take the NASCAR championship lead.(Motorsports)

Byline: AL PEARCE

With apologies to English poet Robert Browning: God's in his heaven, Junior's back in victory lane, and all's right with the world. Well, at least in this far outpost of the world.

Bear with us once more, because Dale Earnhardt Jr. whipped 'em again at Talladega Superspeedway. In winning the EA Sports 500 on the first Sunday in October, he led nine times for 78 of the 188 laps. The victory moved Dale Jr. from third to first in Nextel Cup points (sweet music, indeed, to NASCAR's corporate ears) with playoff races remaining in Kansas City, Charlotte, Martinsville, Atlanta, Phoenix, Darlington and Homestead.

After running in the top-five virtually all day, Junior dropped from first to 11th during a chaotic, right-side-tires-and-gas, yellow-flag stop at lap 178. Not to worry: He passed Ken Schrader, Scott Riggs, Jeff Burton and Terry Labonte within one lap. He got Kurt Busch, Ricky Rudd and Brendan Gaughan a lap later. Finally, he swept past Dale Jarrett, Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick on lap 186 and easily-relatively speaking, of course-took it to the house. It was Little E's fifth victory this year and his fifth at the 2.66-mile track where his late father won 10 times, and it was the 14th of his career.

Harvick was second, then Jarrett, Gaughan (his best Cup finish), Busch, Tony Stewart, pole-winner Joe Nemechek, Casey Mears, Gordon and Ward Burton. Twenty-six of the 43 starters-down to Rusty Wallace-were on the lead lap and five others were one lap down.

Junior likely would have won anyway, but the late caution and five-lap sprint gives 'em something to talk about until next spring. He and a handful of front-runners were making their final green-flag stops when Gaughan triggered an incident that swept up Sterling Marlin and Bobby Labonte in the tri-oval. Most drivers took gas only, but Team Eury-co-crew chiefs Tony Sr. and Jr.-gave their driver gas and right-side tires. That was the difference in winning easily from the front and having to work hard in the final laps.

"That call was awesome,'' Junior said of the gas-and-right-side-only-tire decision. "We just smoked the guys still on old tires. There was a big difference between my car (with fresh rights) and the other cars. I don't think I would have won without those tires. You come down pit road knowing the guys behind you are going to beat you out (by not taking tires), but it equals out. It was crazy there at the end, trying not to get too crazy.''