Rusty Wallace relives heated exchange with Dale Sr. at the infamous Bristol 'water bottle race'

During a recent interview with ESPN’s Ryan McGee, NASCAR veteran Rusty Wallace recalled his post-race encounter with Dale Sr. at Bristol Motor Speedway back in 1995. To this day, the NASCAR aficionados refer to it as the famous “water-bottle” race.

Jeff Gordon (driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy at the time) won his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship that year. Despite a rough start in the season-opening Daytona 500, the Californian won three of the next six races at Rockingham, Atlanta, and Bristol.

Wallace and Dale Sr. were tired of getting dominated by someone younger than themselves. So they formed an alliance with just one goal in mind: to take Gordon out of the race. Recalling the same, Wallace said (00:35),

“He (Dale Sr.) came up to me, so he said, ‘Man, look. When we start this race, let’s bump this kid out of the way and let’s get out of here.’”

But things didn’t go as planned. By lap 33, the alliance seemed to fall apart. Wallace detailed (00:50),

“I’m coming off Turn 4 and got a little loose, and he (Earnhardt) stuck right into me and put me right into the wall.”

Wallace had to settle for a 21st-place finish, 46 laps down, while Dale Sr. finished second behind the eventual winner, Terry Labonte. Needless to say, Wallace was furious.

He walked up to the intimidator, demanding an explanation. But the crowd was going wild, and Wallace’s calls faded away amid the commotion. Unable to control his anger, the driver resorted to aiming a water bottle at Dale Earnhardt’s forehead. And he didn’t miss.

“I put my hand around the neck of the bottle and slung that bottle, and it went straight as an arrow, and it hit him dead in the forehead,” Wallace laughed (2:00).

To this day, the water-bottle encounter remains one of the most memorable moments in the hearts of the fans. It shows that when strapped to his No. 3 Goodwrench Chevy, Dale Sr. cared only about winning.

---

“I didn’t want to remember him that way”- Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalls seeing Dale Sr. for the last time

Dale Sr. and his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. were both racing in the 2001 Daytona 500, a race that would take away the former’s life. Despite having the best medical attention, the fallen racer didn’t make it. He was 49 years old.

Soon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was in his late twenties, arrived at the hospital in Florida where his father rested. Recalling that harrowing experience in the new “Earnhardt” docuseries, the two-time Xfinity Series champion said (quoted by tvinsider.com),

“I’m hustling through halls, you know, looking in every room. And I look over and there’s dad on a table, seemed like eight or 10 doctors surrounded that table, and they’re all working. Finally, somebody grabbed me and told me that dad was gone or dad passed away or dad didn’t make it, and I could go back into this room. And so I go back into the room, and there’s no doctors. There’s just dad.”

“I didn’t want to go any closer. I stood at the door and, again, dad’s 15 feet away. I didn’t want to remember him that way, so I just left,” Dale Jr. said holding back tears.

Fans can watch the four-part series exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The final two episodes premiered yesterday, i.e., May 30.