How Dale Earnhardt won his last Cup Series race at Talladega from P18 on the grid

Dale Earnhardt drives his #3 Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo at Darlington Speedway during the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup
Dale Earnhardt drives his #3 Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo at Darlington Speedway during the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup

One of the all-time greats of the sport, Dale Earnhardt's achievements are one of the most difficult ones to erase from the die-hard NASCAR fan's memory. 'The 'Intimidator', as he was often referred to, was an icon in the world of American Motorsports and regarded for his driving all over the world.

In an era of the sport where the safety of the driver was not the paramount goal, Earnhardt Sr. exhibited some of the most aggressive driving ever seen up until that point in the sport, earning him his nickname. The year before the #3 Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo driver's untimely demise, Dale Earnhardt managed to remind everyone why he was so highly regarded in the sport.

The 2000 Winston 500 saw the Kannapolis, North Carolina native take his final trip to Victory Lane in the sport, as he rose from unfavorable conditions during the race. The 500-mile race was set at the Talladega Superspeedway, and with restrictor plates on the cars, Earnhardt felt right at home behind the steering wheel, a characteristic backed up by statistics. He was the driver with the most wins during the 1990s on tracks that used restrictors to slow the cars down.

In what turned out to be his final victory in the sport, the seven-time Winston Cup (Cup Series) champion was seen at the back of the pack after issues on pit road in a lowly P18. Helped by Kenny Wallace bump drafting the #3 Chevy driver, Earnhardt made his way through the field and won the race, all in the time frame of the final six laps.

The race was cemented in the viewer's mind as one of the many iconic moments from Dale Earnhardt's career, moves that he was famous for making. After all, who can forget the 1987 All-Star Race's 'Pass in the Grass' moment?


Dale Earnhardt's astonishing career statistics

Dale Earnhardt, arguably the most well-known face to come out of NASCAR in the world, had an amazing career in the sport. 'The Intimidator' is one of the few drivers to have ever reached seven championships, tieing him with the greats of the sport such as Richard Petty. Throughout his career, Earnhardt's signature driving style earned him many astonishing statistics.

In his 27 years and 676 starts in the sport, Dale Earnhardt managed to win 76 times, with 281 top-5 finishes, and 428 top-10s. An average finishing position of 11.06 is outstanding considering he retired 95 times in his career.

Watch NASCAR go racing at Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday for the Yellawood 500 at 2:00 pm ET, and reminisce about the days of 'The Intimidator'.

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