When Dale Earnhardt won “motorsports greatest race” at Talladega 1984

With July nearing its end, nascarman, a renowned NASCAR insider uploaded a throwback post on X (formerly Twitter) that turned back the time by 40 years when Dale Earnhardt, also known as the 'Intimidator', won his first race for Richard Childress Racing. It all happened with a last-lap pass with the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway.

Earnhardt was born on April 29, 1951, in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Regarded as one of the brightest names in the world of NASCAR, Earnhardt was a formidable opponent to his contemporaries. Throughout his 26-year career, he amassed 76 wins, 10 of which came at Talladega.

However, the win at the famed 2.66-mile tri-oval back in 1984 stood out from the others as renowned journalist, Tom Higgins, called it "motorsports' greatest race". While speaking of the race, Earnhardt himself exclaimed, "Undoubtedly the most exciting race I've ever been involved in."

The Talladega 500 witnessed Earnhardt holding off bigshots like Terry Labonte and Buddy Baker. Remarkably, the lead changed 68 times between 16 drivers throughout the day.

Earnhardt had entered the race as the points leader. However, he was yet to bag his first win of the season and also the first win for his new team. He did win the Talladega 500 the previous year, but that was when he drove for Bud Moore.

With seven laps to go, Labonte steered past Baker down the back straightaway with Dale Earnhardt tailing him. Earnhardt waited until the last lap before making the breathtaking move. When the time came, Labonte pressed to the inside of the track, hoping Earnhardt would attempt to pass him.

To his utter surprise, Earnhardt veered to the outside lane and cleared Labonte, en route to his 10th career victory. The win pushed Earnhardt 70 points ahead of Labonte, who was P2 in the point standings at the time.

Kenny Wallace reflects on Dale Earnhardt's final win of his career

Interestingly, Dale Earnhardt's last win of his career came at Talladega Superspeedway as well. It was the Winston 500 that took place on October 15, 2000. Both Kenny Wallace and Earnhardt had bad pit stops with 15 laps to go.

"I looked up in the mirror, and that black No. 3 was behind me leaving pit road, too," Wallace said (via The Daytona Beach NEWS JOURNAL). "I keyed my radio and asked what happened to Earnhardt. They said he had a bad stop, too."

With about five laps till the checkered flag, both Wallace and Earnhardt were struggling to gain positions. Earnhardt was running 18th back then and Wallace was a few spots ahead of him. But somehow, the duo made it to the front.

"Some say, 'Oh, he could see air,' " Wallace recalled. "No. It's really simple. He knew how to get to that front. He was a man's man, and he knew what he was doing. The reason we all followed him was because we knew he was going to the front."

In the end, Earnhardt beat Wallace by merely 0.119 seconds. It was his second victory of the season and also the 76th in his career.