The Callahan Report: Dale Earnhardt Finds Talladega's Victory Lane Again

25 April 1999

By Terry Callahan
The Auto Channel

TALLADEGA, ALABAMA: Some people say Dale Earnhardt is finished. They say the horrifying accidents he has had in recent years have made him less aggressive. Dale Earnhardt hushed the skeptics Sunday as he dominated the 43 car field at the DieHard 500. He led the most laps. He held off all challengers. Dale Earnhardt is about as "finished" as taxes.

While Earnhardt still has several wins remaining in his career, he is not a young man. He will celebrate his 48th birthday Thursday. Earnhardt gave himself an early birthday present by sweeping two races during the weekend. He was the winner of the True Value IROC race Saturday. His victory in the DieHard 500 was the 8th of his career at Talladega, NASCAR's longest and fastest track.

The DieHard 500 was Earnhardt's first win since the 1998 Daytona 500. Oddly, Talladega and Daytona are restrictor plate races. Earnhardt has never tried to hide the fact he hates restrictor plate racing. He is the master at winning at the fast tracks, but he is very vocal about the dangers of racing at high speeds without the advantage of horsepower to evade problems.

While restrictor plate racing is dangerous for the drivers, it is thrilling for the fans. The DieHard 500 was no exception this year. Drafting partners were as hard to come by as winning lottery tickets.

"Man, it was like who was going to work with who and what was what,'' said Earnhardt. "I was going to settle for second place until the last few laps, but when they got to jumping around, I got out front and just stayed with it."

In an attempt to decrease speeds, NASCAR implemented restrictor plates several years ago. While the plates have decreased speeds, they have also robbed the drivers of precious horsepower. At Talladega and Daytona, drivers cannot "power" their way through trouble. Instead, they are forced to drive through spinning cars and rely on luck to avoid disaster.

Earnhardt's final challenge of the 500 mile race came from a strong Dale Jarrett who was pushed to the front by Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, and Tony Stewart. The freight train, led by Jarrett, was not strong enough to get past Earnhardt.

"Nobody was there to help Jarrett but Mark when it came time to go,'' Earnhardt said. "That was what really won us the race when they got to racing side-by-side behind those guys.''

Dale Jarrett

"I was just glad to have the chance just to contend there at the end,'' Jarrett said. "It seems like every time I finish second here, the guys behind me starting racing side-by-side and I don't get any help. That's what happened today.''

Martin, who is also very vocal about restrictor plate racing, was able to finish in third place. He was pleased to be a contender. Martin has been caught in big crashes at Talladega recently.

"We needed more help,'' he said. "He's (Earnhardt) sort of the master at restrictor plate racing. He's the best I've ever come up against."

Not so long ago, Earnhardt was greeted with "boos" from jeering fans after every race victory. He dominated NASCAR racing throughout the late 80's and early 90's. It had been 41 races since he had visited victory lane. Earnhardt was saluted by 150,000 screaming fans on his cool down lap Sunday.

"I'm glad they're happy, because I am, too," Earnhardt said as he tried to catch his breath during post race ceremonies.

The "big wreck" came on the 49th lap of the 188 lap race. Mike Skinner drove close to the inside of the track, forcing Tony Stewart into the grass heading down the long backstretch. The two made contact, sending Skinner spinning in front of the field. When the smoke cleared, nine cars had been involved.

Jeff Gordon, the defending Winston Cup champion, and Rusty Wallace were the biggest losers in the crash. Gordon finished 38th and lost two positions in the season point standings. Wallace tried to return to the race but NASCAR made him park his car when it was evident he could not maintain racing speed.

"I really don't know who caused the accident, but it was just a matter of time," Rusty Wallace. "I was hoping NASCAR would throw a caution just to calm everybody down because they were just totally out of control."

Skinner was penalized three laps after his crew chief, Larry McReynolds, was involved in a heated argument with a tow truck crew. McReynolds claimed the tow crew was adding to the damage on their race car. Skinner returned to the race 30 laps behind the leaders.

Tony Stewart received only minor damage to the front of his car. Stewart powered past Earnhardt for the lead prior to the accident. He rebounded for a fifth place finish.

There were two additional caution periods for minor accidents. Terry Labonte was involved in a one car incident in turn three. Bobby Hamilton and Robert Pressley made contact and spun late in the race.

But it was Dale Earnhardt's day. The man in black may be less "intimidating" these days. However, he still has the drive and desire to be where he was at the end of the day Sunday. After all these years, victory lane and Dale Earnhardt still go good together.

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