NASCAR's 10 Greatest Races

Leebo · #1 02-13-2009, 03:36 PM

Voted in by the fans at nascar.com

Quote:

No. 1: 1998 Daytona 500

No longer would Dale Earnhardt have to hear that dreaded question: "Will you ever win the Daytona 500?"
In the twilight of a magnificent career, Earnhardt completed his resume on Feb. 15, 1998, by winning the only coveted stock-car prize to previously elude him. On the day NASCAR began celebrating its 50th anniversary with the 40th running of the Great American Race, Earnhardt won on his 20th try.
This time, the man selected in a NASCAR survey as its greatest driver ever wasn't smoked off on the final lap. He didn't flip his car, and there were no blown tires.
"Every which way you can, I've lost it," Earnhardt said. "Now I've won it."
Then he reached into his uniform, pulled out a stuffed monkey and threw it on the floor.
"I don't ever have to answer that question again," Earnhardt said.
At 46, and with Jeff Gordon and other younger drivers now far more productive, many wondered if he would ever find his way to Victory Lane in the sport's biggest event.
As desirable as the Daytona 500 might have been, Earnhardt had reached the point where any victory would be a godsend. He was mired in a career-worst 59-race winless streak that spanned 23 months, so his 71st Cup Series victory was reason to celebrate, regardless of the venue.
Despite dominating the race on so many occasions, Earnhardt had known nothing but heartbreak on the third Sunday of each February.
• In 1990, he controlled the race for 499 miles, but ran over a broken part and blew a tire two turns from the end.
• In 1993, he led 105 laps, only to be passed by Dale Jarrett on the final one.
• In 1997, he overcame horrendous pit stops to stay among the leaders until a brush with eventual race winner Gordon put him on his roof.
To say Earnhardt had dominated so often is not sufficient. The hard numbers reveal just how good he had been. From 1987 to 1996, he completed 1,999 of a possible 2,000 laps -- 4,997 of 5,000 miles.
"It was our time," he said. "All week long everybody's been saying, 'This is your week, this is your week.' It was."
This time, he led 107 laps in his Chevrolet. But for the first time, that included the only one he'd never led -- the last one.
Earnhardt averaged 172.712 mph in a race slowed just three times by caution. It was the third-fastest Daytona 500.
The ride to Victory Lane was perhaps the slowest ever. Earnhardt exchanged high-fives with virtually every team as a roar of approval descended from a crowd of 185,000.
But numbers meant nothing to Earnhardt, who looked out the press box window as fans scooped up dirt his tires had dug up when he spun to put his car number -- 3 -- in the sod near the finish line. They treated it like hallowed ground.
To Earnhardt, the whole place was.
"There's a lot of emotions played out down here at Daytona with the letdowns we've had," he said. "It's eluded us for so many years."

I remember that race vividly. You aren't a true NASCAR fan if you didn't enjoy that finish and the celebration afterwards.

http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/feat....10/index.html

Fantom · #2 02-13-2009, 03:39 PM

yeah, & it's kinda ironic, that he died at Daytona, also

I miss his style of racing

Leebo · #3 02-13-2009, 03:42 PM

I'm a Jeff Gordon fan (que the boo's and the gay jokes

), so naturally, I wasn't an Earnhardt fan. Love him or hate him, though, you have to have a huge amount of respect for the man for what he did for the sport.

Leebo · #4 02-13-2009, 03:45 PM

The race I'll never forget, and one that I'm still pissed about lol, is (I forget the year and race name) the night race at Bristol where he wrecked Terry Labonte on the last lap for the win.

Fantom · #5 02-13-2009, 03:45 PM

I was an Earnhardt fan, after he died I was so impressed with his replacement Kevin Harvick, that I became a Harvick fan. Course there were times that I was ashamed to wear his hat, lol

Leebo · #6 02-13-2009, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fantom

I was an Earnhardt fan, after he died I was so impressed with his replacement Kevin Harvick, that I became a Harvick fan. Course there were times that I was ashamed to wear his hat, lol

His first win in Atlanta made the list too

All the races on that list were great ones. Well, obviously.

damnyank · #7 02-13-2009, 04:03 PM

IMHO, no one can ever replace or duplicate Dale Sr's driving ability, wrecking (others) ability or down right nastiness on the track. He was named the Intimadator for a reason. That said, had he had more consideration for his own safety (ie Hans device, full face helment etc) he may have survived his ill-fated Daytona crash.

The only time I have ever shed a tear over a NASCAR victory was when JR won the 500 in 2004! That victory will stick with me for a long time!

I really do enjoy some of the old footage of the beach races!

Leebo · #8 02-13-2009, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damnyank

IMHO, no one can ever replace or duplicate Dale Sr's driving ability, wrecking (others) ability or down right nastiness on the track. He was named the Intimadator for a reason. That said, had he had more consideration for his own safety (ie Hans device, full face helment etc) he may have survived his ill-fated Daytona crash.

The only time I have ever shed a tear over a NASCAR victory was when JR won the 500 in 2004! That victory will stick with me for a long time!

I really do enjoy some of the old footage of the beach races!

I'm gonna slightly disagree with you here. Dale Earnhardt was absolutely the king of the restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega. You also can't deny that he was the best at wrecking someone with minimal effect on himself. I won't, however, say that he is/was the best driver NASCAR has seen. First off, you can't compare drivers of different eras. You could make the argument that he was the best of his era, but even that is up for debate. The biggest thing Dale Earnhardt did was to help make NASCAR popular.

Booshay · #9 02-13-2009, 07:21 PM

I was and still am an Earnhardt fan, he was a great driver and I'll be the first to admit that he was an aggressive driver. I would consider him one of the 3 best drivers in NASCAR history if for no other reason than his 7 championships. I wish he had lived past Feb 2001, because I think he was on a roll for an eight title...but we will never know that for sure now. While I'm not a Jeff Gordon fan, he is probably the only driver at this point who even has a chance to tie Earnhardt and Petty.

#10 02-13-2009, 08:01 PM

Racing is not the same since Earnhardt died. The part I enjoyed was watching him race and celebrating when he lost. The race when he hit Rusty Wallace at Talledaga and Wallace flipped end over end over end is what made me start watching and rooting against him. It was amazing how much he was racing to me, even though I would have rather anyone win but him. I don't watch it all anymore.

briang232000 · #11 02-14-2009, 08:39 AM

The greatest race I ever saw I was at in person...Sr.'s last win at Talladega. He went from like 17th to first in 4 laps. I'll never forget that.

Andrew65 · #12 02-18-2009, 08:40 AM

There is no doubt that E-Sr was a very good driver but he was also one of the dirtiest. When they ask the drivers who have raced against him what they hated to see the most, it was the #3 right behind them, late in the race, because they knew they were fixing to be in the wall. Nothing wrong in giving them a bump to say I'm faster than you but to just plain wreck someone to win. I too remember Bristol when he wrecked Labonte, he was boo-ed after the race. I was sorry he died, he did alot for the sport and his family. Now Jr is another story, he is not his father, nobody is scared of him and I hope NASCAR will be let him know about it, after this years' Daytona 500.

hendrixfreak70 · #13 02-18-2009, 09:14 AM

Leebo is a F.O.G. instead of another acronym that would offend someone if I posted it.